Okay, so the Tribe was shutout, managing only two hits against Mark Buehrle and closer Shingo Takatsu, but there is good news. Jake Westbrook looked equally as impressive as Buehrle, tossing eight innings of four-hit ball while limiting the Sox to just one run.

Look, we know this team is going to hit — they were simply overmatched by a good pitcher this afternoon. A bad day. But if Westbrook can match his effectiveness from last year — and, if his performance today was any indication, he may be poised to improve on his surprising success in ‘04 — then the Tribe is in great shape. The bats will wake up, but it’s the arms that will dictate the Indians’ success this year. The ‘05 season may have started with a loss, but it was a loss that offered plenty of reason for optimism.

Here it is for game #1 of 162:

CF: Coco Crisp
2B: Ronnie Belliard
DH: Travis Hafner
C: Victor Martinez
3B: Aaron Boone
RF: Casey Blake
1B: Ben Broussard
LF: Jose Hernandez
SS: Jhonny Peralta

Some notes of interest here, including Coco leading off against lefty Mark Buehrle (Belliard had been rumored to be the lead-off hitter against southpaws), Boone hitting fifth over Blake and Broussard, and Hernandez getting the start in right. You can expect to see a lot of Hernandez this season whenever the Tribe faces a lefty.

Let’s get a win!