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  Saturday, Aug. 5 4:10pm ET
Lofton has three hits, steals two bases
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Trying to gain ground is bringing out the best in the Indians.

Kenny Lofton singled over a drawn-in infield to drive in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, and Cleveland beat the Anaheim Angels 6-3 Saturday for its fourth straight win.

Omar Vizquel
Omar Vizquel singles in the eighth off the Angels' Mark Petkovsek to drive in Wil Cordero with an insurance run.

"Breaks are starting to go our way," Lofton said. "Part of that is we're making things happen. We know we have to win."

Lofton's broken-bat blooper off Scott Schoeneweis (5-6) fell behind shortstop Kevin Stocker and scored Sandy Alomar from third base for a 3-2 lead. Lofton had three of Cleveland's 16 hits as the Indians handed Anaheim its fourth straight loss.

"It is kind of like a playoff atmosphere lately," Alomar said of Cleveland's first four-game winning streak since July 9-15 against Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. The Indians last won four straight over AL teams during a six-game streak from April 7-12.

Justin Speier (2-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings, and Paul Shuey struck out both batters he faced to close the eighth.

Jim Thome, Omar Vizquel and Jolbert Cabrera added RBI singles in the bottom half off Mark Petkovsek for a 6-2 lead. Matt Walbeck hit a run-scoring grounder in the bottom half.

"I didn't pitch well enough to win," Schoenweis said. "Again."

The left-hander, whose last win was May 25, allowed three runs and 11 hits in seven innings.

"I think we're still sound," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "No need to panic. As we start to play better baseball, it will wash away this losing streak."

Chuck Finley allowed only two singles in the first five innings against his former team. The left-hander, who had not made it out of the sixth inning in three previous starts, faltered again in the sixth and wasted a 2-0 lead on Tim Salmon's 24th homer, an opposite-field drive to right, and Garret Anderson's RBI single that followed an error by Lofton in center.

"I was breezing along with two outs and needed 25 more pitches to get out of the inning," Finley said. "The big thing is we won. We have to make up some ground and I hope we have not dug too big of a hole."

Finley allowed two runs, five hits and four walks in six innings. He struck out six.

Lofton singled in the first, stole second (he had two steals), took third on Travis Fryman's bunt single and scored as Roberto Alomar hit into a double play. Thome hit a broken-bat, RBI single in the third.

Manny Ramirez ran through a stop sign by third-base coach Jim Riggleman and was an easy out as he crashed into Walbeck attempting to score on Thome's hit.

Ramirez left in the eighth with a sore left hamstring from that play. He was on the disabled list May 30 to July 12 with a strained left hamstring.

"I think that play shook him up a little," Indians manager Charlie Manuel said. "We'll have a better idea on how Manny is feeling tomorrow."

Rookie Chan Perry followed with his first major league hit and Sandy Alomar also singled, but Cabrera hit into a inning-ending force play.

Game notes
Perry, called up from the minors Friday, made his major-league debut in right field. He is the brother of White Sox third baseman Herbert Perry, a former Indian. ... Ron Gant's second-inning single was his first in nine at-bats in the AL since Anaheim acquired him July 30 from Philadelphia. ... Indians catcher Sandy Alomar threw out both runners attempting to steal on him. He is 17-for-73 on steal attempts this season. ... Anaheim is 4-9 since the All-Star break in games decided in the seventh inning or later.
 


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