Weil Impresses in Debut

Indians rookie hurler Anthony Weil took the mound for his major league debut on Friday against the Cincinnati Reds and wasted no time in notching his first major league complete game victory. He scattered four hits and two walks over nine innings, striking out six en route to a 5-1 win in front of the Cleveland faithful.

Cleveland jumped out to a quick 4-0 league in the second when Reds pitcher Harold Argueta started the inning by walking Flori Figuera and Al Quinto. First baseman Greg Desjardins scored both with a double and later scored when Elmer Sweet doubled him in with two out.

With the signing of three high profile free agents in the off-season, the Indians have the league's third largest payroll at nearly $82 million. Cleveland's front office is counting on revenue from increased ticket sales to offset their bull market trading. At 1-3, things could have started out better.

Weil's solid performance came before a crowd of nearly 30,000 who had come out to Jacob's Field for Bat Day. But at 1-3 the Tribe is going to need to notch a lot more wins to bring out the fans with any consistency.