CLEVELAND — Four games into the season, the team that was supposed to win it all hasn’t won at all.

This isn’t what the Boston Red Sox expected.

Additional Photos

Asdrubal Cabrera of the Cleveland Indians slides safely to the plate, scoring on a sacrifice fly as Boston catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia waits for the throw Tuesday. The Associated Press

Josh Tomlin outpitched Josh Beckett, Cleveland came up with just enough timely hits and the Indians kept the Red Sox winless this season with a 3-1 victory Tuesday night over the team many predicted would make it to the World Series.

“It’s not a lot of fun,” Manager Terry Francona said. “But I don’t think anyone is going to feel sorry for us. We’ve got to play the game right and things will work out.”

Tomlin (1-0) allowed one run and three hits in seven innings, taming a star-studded Boston lineup that has yet to find its groove. Francona tried juggling his batting order, moving Carl Crawford into the No. 2 hole, but it had little impact and Boston’s team average dropped to .186.

“We need some kind of spark right now,” said Crawford, signed as a free agent in December. “It’s a little surprising, frustrating. We’ve got high hopes for this season.”

Tony Sipp worked a perfect eighth before Indians closer Chris Perez made things interesting in the ninth. He gave up a one-out single to Dustin Pedroia and a two-out walk to Kevin Youkilis before retiring David Ortiz on a liner to left for his first save.

Beckett (0-1) couldn’t stop the Red Sox from falling to 0-4, their worst start since opening 0-5 in 1996.

Still, he isn’t panicking.

“There’s too much history here,” he said. “Everyone here knows how to win. We’ll figure it out. We know what we’ve got to do.”

Orlando Cabrera, Jack Hannahan and Carlos Santana drove in runs for Cleveland.

Indians Manager Manny Acta said before the game that he didn’t expect Tomlin, who went 6-4 in 12 starts after being recalled from the minors last July, to be intimidated by Boston’s loaded lineup. Tomlin showed steel nerves in handling one of baseball’s best 1-through-9 lineups.

“Josh Tomlin was fantastic,” Acta said. “He had their lefties off balance and had full control of his four-pitch repertoire. He deserves all the credit.”

The crowd of 9,025, many of them Boston fans, was the smallest to see the Red Sox play since 2000.

Picked by many to win the AL pennant in 2011 after adding Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez this winter, they were swept in three games to open the season in Texas, where the Rangers hit 11 homers and outscored Boston, 26-11.

The Indians managed one hit off Beckett for three innings before getting three and scoring two runs in the fourth.

Travis Hafner, showing signs of being able to turn on pitches again, rocketed a double off the right-field wall with one out and scored on Orlando Cabrera’s single.

Beckett walked Austin Kearns and struck out Matt LaPorta on a nasty change-up before No. 9 hitter Hannahan grounded an RBI single to center.

Cleveland made it 3-1 in the fifth when Asdrubal Cabrera doubled, moved up on a groundout and scored on Carlos Santana’s sacrifice fly.

Beckett allowed three runs and five hits in five innings.

“They grinded out some at-bats,” Beckett said, “and I got the ball up a little bit.”

NOTES: As if the trip to Texas wasn’t bad enough, the Red Sox had a rough flight to Cleveland. “We got bounced around a little bit,” said Francona, who left his seat as the plane prepared to land to check on Pedroia, a nervous flyer. “I almost got sick. It was bad.”

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