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Sunday, Jul. 23 2:05pm ET
Burba notches 10th win for Cleveland | |||||
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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- With the trade deadline looming, the Cleveland Indians want to make sure management doesn't give up on this season. Travis Fryman and Omar Vizquel both homered as the Indians spoiled Minnesota manager Tom Kelly's return by snapping a four-game losing streak with a 8-3 win over the Twins on Sunday. "We need to stay in the race for either the division or the wild card," said reliever Steve Karsay, who pitched a scoreless ninth inning. "With the talent in this room, we need to show management we can win games. It doesn't matter how you get into the playoffs." The Indians, the five-time AL Central Division champions, trail the White Sox by 10½ games and could unload some veterans -- including slugger Manny Ramirez -- before July 31. "Can you figure this one out?," asked Indians manager Charlie Manuel. "We win one of three games and it's against their ace pitcher (Brad Radke). It's a game we absolutely had to have." Kelly had been in Florida since the All-Star break tending to his ailing father. Ron Gardenhire, the team's third base coach, served as interim manager and posted a 6-4 record. "It's nice to be back," said Kelly, who watched Saturday night's game at the Metrodome to get a feel for the team before managing again. The Twins were bidding to sweep a series from the Indians for the first time since May, 1993. But two relievers few people outside of Cleveland have ever heard of -- Cameron Cairncross and Justin Speier -- came to the rescue of starter Dave Burba. Burba (10-4) allowed three runs, five hits and five walks in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out seven to reach double figures in wins for the fifth straight year. But the game was in danger falling apart for Cleveland when Burba couldn't make it out of the sixth. Ron Coomer and David Ortiz singled with one out and walks to Corey Koskie and pinch-hitter Midre Cummings cut the lead to 4-3. Cairncross, in just his third big league game, relieved Burba and struck out pinch-hitter Denny Hocking. Speier then replaced Cairncross and retired pinch-hitter Marcus Jensen on a popout to end the inning. "Those guys saved me today," Burba said. "I just lost my focus. I tried to pick a bit and got into trouble. I hated the bases-loaded walk but I guess it could have been worse." Fryman's two-run homer, his 15th, gave the Indians a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning. Ramirez doubled off Radke (7-11) before Fryman hit his first homer since June 16. The Indians added to their lead in the sixth when Minnesota left fielder Matt Lawton misjudged Ricky Ledee's line drive and it went off the fence for a double. Richie Sexson's RBI single made it 4-2. "Jacque (Jones) and I looked at each other and said, 'Where is it?," Lawton said. "I saw it off the bat and then I lost it totally." The Indians had Radke in trouble most of the day, getting a runner in scoring position in five of his six innings. They scored in the third when Einar Diaz tripled and came home on Vizquel's RBI single. "Brad pitched a pretty good game," Kelly said. "But we didn't see the one ball and it cost us. And a couple of our guys had tough days against Burba." Travis Miller started the seventh for Minnesota and loaded the bases. Hector Carrasco relieved and allowed a two-run single to Ramirez and a sacrifice fly to Fryman. Coomer, who had four hits in Saturday's 10-6 Minnesota victory, gave the Twins the early lead with his 12th homer of the season, a two-run shot in the first inning. It was his first homer since hitting one off Burba on July 1. Vizquel, whose 95-game errorless streak at shortstop ended Saturday, homered with two outs in the top of the ninth. Game notesDiaz's triple was just the second of his 192-game career. ... Burba moved into fifth place in strikeouts in the AL with 121. ... Ledee's ball wasn't the only adventure in the Metrodome Sunday. Two foul balls struck speakers, changed direction and fell harmlessly to the ground. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Cleveland Clubhouse Minnesota Clubhouse RECAPS Boston 1 Chi. White Sox 0
Cleveland 8
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