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Tuesday, Jul. 4 1:05pm ET
Indians rookie goes deep twice | |||||
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GAME LOG
CLEVELAND (AP) -- The Indians aren't allowed to play Ping-Pong anymore. On Tuesday, they got to watch as the Toronto Blue Jays paddled the ball around. Kenny Lofton's clutch two-run double came after Toronto made two of its three errors in the seventh inning, and rookie Russell Branyan homered twice Tuesday to lead Cleveland to a 9-4 victory over the Blue Jays.
"The TV stays," he joked. Toronto, which entered as the AL's second-best fielding team, made three errors in the seventh when the Indians rallied for six unearned runs. Lofton, Roberto Alomar and Omar Vizquel all hit run-scoring doubles in the inning as Cleveland finally got some timely hitting. "Our offense came up with some big hits," Manuel said, "and we got some breaks and took advantage of it." Bartolo Colon (8-5) allowed four runs and seven hits in seven innings. The right-hander struck out seven -- five to start the game -- and walked two. Right fielder Ricky Ledee, obtained from the Yankees last week, threw a runner out at the plate in the fourth and made a nice catch before crashing into the wall in the eighth. Tony Batista and Shannon Stewart homered for the Blue Jays, who made four errors and could have been charged with a fifth. Toronto had just 44 errors in 83 games coming in. "We made six errors," Toronto manager Jim Fregosi said. "I don't care if they put four on the board. We made six. You don't win when you play like that. We played good defense all year and didn't catch the ball today." Branyan's solo homer in the fourth pulled the Indians to 3-1, and he added a two-run shot in the sixth off starter Frank Castillo as Cleveland closed to 4-3. Branyan has 10 homers in 73 at-bats this season, and three multi-homer games. "The report on him was not to throw him fastballs," Castillo said, "so I started him with a curve and he was all over it. Then I threw a changeup, and he was all over that, too. Both of them were fat pitches." Jim Thome walked to open the seventh against Lance Painter, who was replaced by John Frascatore (1-3). Richie Sexson, who had struck out in his previous two at-bats, followed with a routine grounder to third that Batista couldn't handle. "I just missed that ball," Batista said. "It was just routine. I don't know how. I don't know why." Enrique Wilson then reached when Frascatore fielded his bunt and threw it down the third-base line, allowing Thome to score. One out later, Lofton doubled into the gap in left-center off lefty Pedro Borbon to make it 6-4. Carlos Delgado then dropped Sandy Alomar's foul pop for the Jays' third error in the inning, and after Alomar singled, Roberto Alomar and Vizquel capped the Indians' second-biggest inning this season with their doubles. "I just wanted to put the ball in play," said Lofton, who is 5-for-10 since dropping from leadoff into the No. 8 spot in the order. "There's some pressure batting leadoff and moving down has given me a chance to relax." Colon, who tied a major league record by walking the first four batters in his previous start, was untouchable early on. He blew his fastball past the first five Toronto hitters in starting the game with five straight strikeouts. However, Batista homered into the Indians' bullpen on a 3-2 pitch to make it 1-0. Batista swung at a fastball high and away, driving it over the wall for his 24th homer. Stewart's two-run homer in the third gave Toronto a 3-0 lead. Jose Cruz Jr. doubled leading off, moved up Chris Woodward's sacrifice and scored on Stewart's 11th homer.
Game notes | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Toronto Clubhouse Cleveland Clubhouse RECAPS Cleveland 9 Toronto 4
Kansas City 10
San Francisco 3 AUDIO/VIDEO Kenny Lofton and the Indians are just trying to put the ball in play. wav: 117 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 Indians' rookie Russell Branyan is happy to start a series with a win. wav: 123 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 |