Sports

Surging Indians light up D'backs

A 10-run third propels Cleveland to a 13-6 win, its seventh in a row.

Associated Press
Published June 18, 2005

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CLEVELAND - Jhonny Peralta and Grady Sizemore hit back-to-back homers and Casey Blake had two hits and three RBIs during Cleveland's 10-run third inning Friday night as the Indians beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 13-6 for their seventh straight win.

Arizona became the first team since the 1969 Mets to allow 10 runs in an inning in consecutive games. The Mets did it on one day, during a July 30 doubleheader against the Astros.

Travis Hafner had three RBIs and Coco Crisp went 3-for-5 for the Indians, who have won 10 of 11 and are 18-7 since May 21. The winning streak is the club's longest since 10 in a row in 2002.

Blake led off Cleveland's biggest inning in nearly six years with a homer off Brad Halsey and the Indians kept swinging away. They sent up 14 hitters while collecting eight hits - three homers, three singles and two doubles - and taking advantage of two walks and two errors.

After Blake's two-run single made it 7-3 and chased Halsey, Peralta hit his eighth homer, a shot to left off Matt Herges. Sizemore connected on Herges' next pitch, a drive to right for his sixth homer.

It was the Indians' most runs in an inning since Sept. 10, 1999, when they scored 12 against the White Sox.

For the Diamondbacks, the outburst was too familiar. Wednesday night, the White Sox scored 10 in the sixth inning of a 12-6 win.

The support made things much easy for Cliff Lee, who wasn't particularly sharp but didn't have to be. The left-hander gave up four runs and eight hits in five innings and improved to 18-4 in his career before the All-Star break.

Royce Clayton went 4-for-4 with a homer and Craig Counsell hit a two-run shot for Arizona.

Cleveland's eruption had been building for weeks. The club's offense has scuffled this season and entered the series with 272 runs, 13th in the AL. The bats have warmed up lately as the club is 9-1 against the NL West.

During the stretch, the Indians have outscored San Diego, San Francisco, Colorado and Arizona by a combined 65-30.

Blake's ninth homer began the Indians' third, and one out later Clayton's throwing error at shortstop let Sizemore reach. After a single and walk loaded the bases, Hafner's three-run double gave the Indians a 4-3 lead.

Halsey walked Victor Martinez and gave up Jose Hernandez's run-scoring single but appeared to be out of the inning when Aaron Boone hit a slow roller to Troy Glaus. The third baseman stepped on the bag for a force, but his throw to first skipped into the photographer's pit.

Blake made it worse with a two-run single in his second at-bat of the inning to finish Halsey. Peralta and Sizemore later homered.

[Last modified June 18, 2005, 00:45:19]

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