Tomlin tries to right ship as Indians host Mariners

CLEVELAND -- Four of the five pitchers in the Cleveland Indians' starting rotation have been very productive in the first month of the season.

The only one who has been unproductive will be the Indians' starting pitcher Sunday at Progressive Field in the finale of a four-game series with Seattle.

Struggling Josh Tomlin, the senior member of the Indians in terms of service time -- he has been a member of the organization since 2006 -- will try to get his season turned around as he makes his fifth appearance of the season.

His first four appearances have not been pretty.

"It's about missing barrels, and I haven't missed many barrels lately," he said.

In four appearances, Tomlin is 0-3 with a 9.24 ERA. One of those appearances was in relief.

In his three starts, the numbers are even uglier. In those starts, he is 0-2 with a 10.03 ERA. In 11 2/3 innings, he has allowed 13 runs and 19 hits, including eight home runs, which ties him for the league lead for home runs allowed. In those three starts, opposing teams are hitting .352 against him.

"I'm making too many mistakes," said Tomlin, who was 10-9 in 2017 and 13-9 in 2016. "What I'm doing now isn't working. I need to figure it out."

The eight home runs allowed by Tomlin have occurred in just six innings. In his first start of the season, he gave up four home runs in three innings to the Los Angeles Angels and in his last start he gave up four homers in three innings vs. the Chicago Cubs.

Sunday will be Tomlin's first start against the Mariners since April 30, 2017, a 12-4 win in which he pitched five innings, giving up four runs and eight hits, with three strikeouts and one walk. In seven career starts against Seattle, Tomlin is 5-1 with a 3.74 ERA.

Tomlin's mound opponent on Sunday will be left-hander Marco Gonzales, who in five starts this year is 2-2 with a 5.56 ERA. Sunday will be Gonzales' first career start against Cleveland. His only appearance against the Indians was a relief stint on Sept. 23, 2017, when he pitched two scoreless innings and gave up three hits, with two strikeouts and no walks.

Gonzales' last start this year was a 1-0 win over the Chicago White Sox on April 24 in which he pitched six scoreless innings and allowed five hits with eight strikeouts and one walk.

Seattle has won two of the first three games of the series, including a 12-4 rout of Cleveland on Saturday in which the Mariners banged out 12 hits, four of them home runs.

Nelson Cruz had four hits, including a home run. Jean Segura, Kyle Seager and Ryon Healy also homered for the Mariners, who are 6-3 on a 10-game trip.

"They have one of the more aggressive lineups in the league," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "When they see it, they're swinging. And they can do some damage."

Mitch Haniger was hitless in Saturday's game, but he has worn out Indians pitching during his career. In 2018, Haniger is hitting .389 (7-for-18) with three home runs and five RBIs against Cleveland. His career average against the Indians is .367 (11-for-30).

"He's a good hitter. If you make mistakes to him up in the zone, he'll hurt you. He's been very good against us," Francona said.