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Indians Start Series With Win Over Cards

Posted on: Tuesday, 27 June 2006, 06:00 CDT

By The Associated Press

Cliff Lee kept his interleague record perfect and the Cleveland Indians snapped a long streak of losing series openers.

The Indians' 10-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night was their first win in a Game 1 since May 23. Ten straight series had started with a loss until Lee beat another National League team.

"I didn't even realize that, to be honest with you," Lee said of the losing streak. "I just wanted to go out there and pitch my game and go with the scouting report we had on the guys."

The report on Lee is that June has been his month while his team struggles, having lost nine of its last 13 games.

Lee (7-5) gave up two runs and eight hits in six innings with five strikeouts and two walks. He is 6-0 with a 3.27 ERA against the NL, including a victory over the Chicago Cubs in his last start. In June, he's 4-0 with a 3.09 ERA in five starts. The Indians are 8-15 this month.

"About the last month or so he's been the Cliff we expect to see out there," Indians manager Eric Wedge said of Lee, who won 18 games last season. "That's what we want to keep seeing."

Travis Hafner hit two homers for visiting Cleveland, while Grady Sizemore and Todd Hollandsworth each added one. Jhonny Peralta hit a tiebreaking two-run triple in the fifth for the Indians, who are 1-8-1 in their last 10 series, losing the last seven.

"This is a good start for us and that's the way we've got to look at it," Wedge said. "This will get the monkey off their back."

In other interleague games on Monday, it was: Boston 8, Philadelphia 7 in 12 innings; Detroit 10, Houston 4; the New York Yankees 5, Atlanta 2; Florida 8, Tampa Bay 5; Minnesota 8, the Los Angeles Dodgers 2; and the Los Angeles Angels 5, Colorado 4.

In the lone NL game, Milwaukee beat Chicago 6-0.

The loss was the seventh straight for the Cardinals.

"We're not having fun," manager Tony La Russa said. "Most of the games aren't close. It's a real struggle, but they're in the book."

Jason Marquis (9-6) allowed seven runs in six innings. He gave up three homers and has allowed seven in his last two outings to tie for the major league lead with 19. In the last two games, he has allowed 20 earned runs in 11 innings.

"I felt great, I had a lot of life on my ball," Marquis said. "A couple of times, bad pitch selection, and a couple of times bad pitch location."

Hafner, who leads the Indians with 21 homers, is batting .371 (13-for-35) during a nine-game hitting streak.

"He's right up there with Pujols, one of the best hitters in baseball," Lee said. "For him to have a game like that doesn't surprise me at all."

Scott Rolen and So Taguchi each had three hits and an RBI for the Cardinals, who have been outscored 64-27 during an all-interleague losing streak. They are 0-5 since Albert Pujols returned from an injury after going 8-7 without him.

Red Sox 8, Phillies 7, 12 innings

At Boston, David Ortiz beat the Phillies in the last at-bat for the second consecutive game, singling home the winning run in the 12th to extend the Red Sox's winning streak to nine games.

Boston led 6-0 after six innings and was up 6-5 in the ninth when Chase Utley homered off Jonathan Papelbon to tie it. The Phillies took a 7-6 lead in the 12th on Jimmy Rollins' RBI double, but Coco Crisp doubled and scored on Kevin Youkilis' single to make it 7-7. Mark Loretta walked before Ortiz won it. Ortiz, who leads the AL with 68 RBIs, ended Saturday's game with a 10th-inning homer.

Craig Hansen (1-0) earned his first major league victory for the Red Sox, who have swept three consecutive three-game series - all interleague. Clay Condrey (1-2) took the loss for the Phillies, who have lost 13 of 16.

Tigers 10, Astros 4

At Detroit, Ivan Rodriguez's two-run double highlighted the Tigers' five-run third inning and he added a homer off starter Wandy Rodriguez (8-5) in the seventh.

Houston had four consecutive hits in the first inning off Zach Miner (4-1), but he regrouped and struck out five over 5 1-3 innings, allowing three runs and 10 hits.

Yankees 5, Braves 2

At New York, Jason Giambi homered twice and drove in five runs, and Randy Johnson, pitching on six days' rest after serving a five-game suspension for throwing at Cleveland's Eduardo Perez, threw seven shutout innings.

Johnson (9-6) allowed four hits, struck out a season-high nine and didn't walk a batter. Andy Phillips went 3-for-3 and Derek Jeter scored two runs on his 32nd birthday for the Yankees, who have won five of six.

New York scored five runs in the first two innings against Tim Hudson (6-7), who lost his third consecutive start and dropped to 1-4 in June. Chipper Jones hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning and went 3-for-4 for Atlanta.

Marlins 8, Devil Rays 5

At Miami, Cody Ross had three hits and two RBIs and Josh Willingham, Mike Jacobs and Jeremy Hermida each drove in two runs for the Marlins, who are 22-9 since May 22 and moved within one game of Philadelphia for second place in the NL East.

Josh Johnson (7-4) trailed 2-0 after only six pitches, but allowed one more run over the rest of his 6 2-3 innings. He struck out five, walked one, and gave up eight hits.

Rocco Baldelli had three RBIs, including a two-run homer in the first inning. James Shields (4-1) failed in his bid to be the first Tampa Bay pitcher to win five times in a month. He allowed seven runs and 10 hits in five innings, striking out a season-high seven.

Twins 8, Dodgers 2

At Minneapolis, Joe Mauer had four hits and a career-best five RBIs for the Twins, who won their fifth straight and 15th of 17. Carlos Silva (4-8) allowed six hits and two runs in eight innings, striking out three without a walk.

Nomar Garciaparra went 2-for-4 with an RBI for Los Angeles, which had a four-game winning streak end.

Angels 5, Rockies 4

At Anaheim, Mike Napoli's two-run double highlighted a five-run eighth inning for the Angels. John Lackey (5-5) allowed three runs and four hits over eight innings, striking out four and walking two.

Rockies starter Jason Jennings, who hadn't allowed an earned run in his previous two starts, was charged with two runs and four hits in seven-plus innings. He left with a 3-0 lead and the Angels rallied against Jose Mesa (0-2).

National League

Brewers 6, Cubs 0

At Chicago, Carlos Lee hit a two-run homer, Prince Fielder added two solo shots and Chris Capuano won his fourth consecutive decision as the Brewers handed the Cubs their eighth straight home loss. It is the Cubs' longest losing streak at Wrigley Field since dropping 12 in a row to start the 1994 season.

Capuano (9-4) allowed seven hits, walked two and struck out four. He left the game in the ninth inning after being hit on the right arm by a line drive from Aramis Ramirez. The team said he had a bruised forearm and would be evaluated Tuesday.

Greg Maddux (7-8) gave up five runs and seven hits in seven innings and lost for the eighth time in 11 starts. After starting the season 5-0, Maddux is 2-8 with a 6.78 ERA since May 3.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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