GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: AL: CLEVELAND (61-47) at MINNESOTA (55-52)

AL: CLEVELAND at MINNESOTA

<div class="pre">AL AT MINNESOTA - MID INNING UPDATE
PLAY: J Kubel hit for A Casilla.
SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, M REDMOND ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 5
MINNESOTA 2 BOTTOM, 9TH

DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: J Kubel (.245, 9 HR, 44 RBI)</div>

 

AL: CLEVELAND at MINNESOTA

<div class="pre">AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
CLEVELAND 0 0 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 5 8 1
MINNESOTA 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 8 2 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: CLE - C.C. SABATHIA, AARON FULTZ (7TH), RAFAEL BETANCOURT (7TH), JOE
BOROWSKI (9TH) AND VICTOR MARTINEZ

MIN - JOHAN SANTANA, MATT GUERRIER (7TH), DENNYS REYES
(7TH), PAT NESHEK (7TH), RAMON ORTIZ (9TH) AND JOE MAUER

HOME RUNS: CLE - GRADY SIZEMORE (19) OFF JOHAN SANTANA IN THE 3RD, 1 ON

MIN - NONE</div>

 

AL: CLEVELAND at MINNESOTA

<div class="pre">AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
CLEVELAND 0 0 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 5 8 1
MINNESOTA 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 8 2 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: CLE - C.C. SABATHIA, AARON FULTZ (7TH), RAFAEL BETANCOURT (7TH), JOE
BOROWSKI (9TH) AND VICTOR MARTINEZ

MIN - JOHAN SANTANA, MATT GUERRIER (7TH), DENNYS REYES
(7TH), PAT NESHEK (7TH), RAMON ORTIZ (9TH) AND JOE MAUER


WP - C.C. SABATHIA (14-6)
LP - JOHAN SANTANA (11-9)
SAVE - JOE BOROWSKI (30)

HOME RUNS: CLE - GRADY SIZEMORE (19) OFF JOHAN SANTANA IN THE 3RD, 1 ON

MIN - NONE


TIME: 3:18 ATT: 31,664

PROBABLES: CLE - AARON LAFFEY (NR)
MIN - MATT GARZA (1-2, 1.37)</div>

 

AL: CLEVELAND at MINNESOTA

<div class="pre">CLEVELAND (5) VS MINNESOTA (2) - FINAL

CLEVELAND ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
G Sizemore cf 5 1 3 4 0 0 0 .284
C Blake 3b 3 0 1 0 1 1 2 .268
V Martinez c 4 0 1 0 0 1 3 .305
R Garko 1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 .312
T Hafner dh 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 .253
J Peralta ss 4 0 0 0 0 3 3 .275
K Lofton lf 4 1 0 0 0 2 3 .300
F Gutierrez rf 4 2 2 0 0 1 0 .300
J Barfield 2b 4 1 1 0 0 2 3 .252

Totals 34 5 8 4 3 11 16

BATTING: 2B - C Blake (26, J Santana). 3B - F Gutierrez (1, J Santana). HR - G
Sizemore (19, 3rd inning off J Santana 1 on, 1 Out). RBI - G Sizemore 4 (62).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - K Lofton 1, R Garko 1. Team LOB - 5.


BASERUNNING: SB - G Sizemore (28, 2nd base off J Santana/J Mauer).

FIELDING: E - C Blake (12, ground ball). DP: 1 (J Peralta-R Garko).


MINNESOTA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Tyner lf 4 0 0 0 1 1 1 .276
J Bartlett ss 4 0 1 0 0 1 2 .259
J Mauer c 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 .299
M Cuddyer rf 4 1 2 0 0 2 2 .292
J Morneau 1b 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 .294
T Hunter cf 3 0 2 1 1 0 0 .290
M Redmond dh 3 1 1 0 1 0 0 .279
N Punto 3b 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 .209
a-B Buscher ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .286
A Casilla 2b 3 0 1 1 0 1 0 .264
b-J Kubel ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .244

Totals 34 2 8 2 3 6 13

a-flied out to right for N Punto in the 9th; b-flied out to left for A Casilla
in the 9th.

BATTING: 2B - M Cuddyer (18, C Sabathia); T Hunter (29, C Sabathia). RBI - A
Casilla (4), T Hunter (75). 2-out RBI - T Hunter. Runners left in scoring
position, 2 out - M Cuddyer 1, N Punto 2, J Tyner 1, J Bartlett 1. GIDP - J
Morneau. Team LOB - 8.

BASERUNNING: CS - T Hunter (6, 2nd base by C Sabathia).

FIELDING: E - A Casilla 2 (4, pop up, throw). DP: 2 (A Casilla-J Bartlett, J
Bartlett-A Casilla-J Morneau-A Casilla-J Morneau-J Bartlett).


----------------------------------------------------
CLEVELAND - 002 010 200 -- 5
MINNESOTA - 001 100 000 -- 2
----------------------------------------------------

CLEVELAND ip h r er bb so hr era
C Sabathia (W, 14-6) 6 8 2 2 2 3 0 3.56
A Fultz (H, 12) 1/3 0 0 0 1 1 0 1.69
R Betancourt (H, 22) 1 2/3 0 0 0 0 2 0 1.39
J Borowski (S, 30) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4.85

MINNESOTA ip h r er bb so hr era
J Santana (L, 11-9) 6 6 5 3 2 8 1 2.98
M Guerrier 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.74
D Reyes 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3.86
P Neshek 1 2/3 1 0 0 1 1 0 2.05
R Ortiz 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 5.21

J Santana pitched to 2 batters in the 7th.
D Reyes pitched to 1 batter in the 7th.

WP - J Santana, C Sabathia. IBB - M Redmond (by C Sabathia). Pitches-strikes:
C Sabathia 107-68; A Fultz 10-4; R Betancourt 22-17; J Borowski 19-14; J
Santana 113-77; M Guerrier 1-1; D Reyes 2-1; P Neshek 30-18; R Ortiz 15-9.
Ground balls-fly balls: C Sabathia 10-4; A Fultz 0-0; R Betancourt 0-3; J
Borowski 1-2; J Santana 0-9; M Guerrier 0-1; D Reyes 0-0; P Neshek 1-2; R Ortiz
0-1. Batters faced: C Sabathia 26; A Fultz 2; R Betancourt 5; J Borowski 4; J
Santana 26; M Guerrier 1; D Reyes 1; P Neshek 6; R Ortiz 3.

UMPIRES: HP--Dale Scott. 1B--Ron Kulpa. 2B--Paul Emmel. 3B--Dan Iassogna.

T--3:18. Att--31,664.
Weather: INDOORS</div>

 

AL: CLEVELAND at MINNESOTA

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
AL
CLEVELAND 5
MINNESOTA 2 FINAL</div>

 

Sizemore drives in four as Sabathia outduels Santana

<h3>CLEVELAND 5, MINNESOTA 2</h3>MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) - Grady Sizemore homered and drove in fourruns as the Cleveland Indians topped the Minnesota Twins, 5-2,on Friday.


Sizemore hit a two-run homer off Johan Santana in the thirdinning to extend his hitting streak to a season-high 11 games,then singled home the eventual game-winner off Santana in thefifth inning.


C.C. Sabathia (14-6) allowed two runs on eight hits in sixinnings to win for just the second time in his last sixdecisions, helping the Indians start out the four-game serieswith a victory. It marked the first time Cleveland has won twoconsecutive games since July 19-20.


The contest was an emotional one for Minnesota, which had itsThursday game against Kansas City postponed because of thetragic Interstate 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis onWednesday night. The bridge stood mere blocks from theMetrodome and cut off the city's major North/South thoroghfarewhile killing at least five people and injuring nearly 100 withmany still missing.


As if that wasn't enough, the Twins fell 6 1/2 games behind theIndians in the wild card race.


The contest was close throughout, with Cleveland striking firston Sizemore's home run to right field. The round-tripper plateJosh Barfield, who managed the Indians' first hit off Santana(11-9) in the previous at-bat.


Twins designated hitter Mike Redmond singled and went to secondon a wild pitch to start the bottom half of the frame, went tothird on Nick Punto's groundout, then scored when rookie AlexiCasilla ripped an 0-2 pitch from Sabathia to left field.

Minnesota tied the score in the fourth inning with a double fromMichael Cuddyer and a two-out RBI double from Torii Hunter.But Sabathia avoided more damage from there, and the Indianstook the lead for good in the fifth.


Franklin Gutierrez tripled to lead off the frame, and Sizemoreplated him with a single two batters later.


Cleveland chased Santana and added insurance runs in theseventh. Kenny Lofton reached second to start the inning on atwo-base error from Casilla, who misplayed a bloop hit behindsecond base. Gutierrez singled Lofton to third to end Santana'send, and Sizemore once again brought in the runner from thirdwith a single off reliever Dennys Reyes.


Gutierrez scored the fifth run on another Casilla error in thenext at-bat, as he threw wildly to first trying to double-upCasey Blake on a ground ball. Blake was caught in a run-down,but Gutierrez scored well before Blake was tagged.

Aaron Fultz and Rafael Betancourt held Minnesota scoreless inthe seventh and eighth innings, and Joe Borowski logged ascoreless ninth for his 30th save in 33 chances.


Santana allowed five runs - three earned - on six hits with twowalks and eight strikeouts, losing for the third time in hislast four starts. He has a 4.85 ERA in those games, after going5-0 in his previous five outings with a 1.03 ERA.


Gutierrez went 2-for-4 with two runs scored for the Indians.

Cuddyer and Hunter both had two hits for Minnesota, which lostits second straight contest after winning four in a row.

 

AL: CLEVELAND at MINNESOTA

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CLEVELAND (5) AT MINNESOTA (2) - HOW THEY SCORED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CLEVELAND 3RD: F Gutierrez flied out to center. J Barfield singled to
center. G Sizemore homered to right, J Barfield scored. C Blake doubled to
deep right center. V Martinez struck out swinging. C Blake to third on wild
pitch by J Santana. R Garko flied out to right. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors)
CLEVELAND 2, MINNESOTA 0.

MINNESOTA 3RD: M Redmond singled to right. M Redmond to second on wild
pitch by C Sabathia. N Punto grounded out to second, M Redmond to third.
A Casilla singled to left, M Redmond scored. J Tyner grounded out to shortstop,
A Casilla to second. J Bartlett grounded out to third. (1 Run, 2 Hits,
0 Errors) CLEVELAND 2, MINNESOTA 1.

MINNESOTA 4TH: J Mauer flied out to left. M Cuddyer doubled to deep left.
J Morneau fouled out to first. T Hunter doubled to deep left, M Cuddyer
scored. M Redmond intentionally walked. N Punto popped out to first. (1 Run,
2 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 2, MINNESOTA 2.

CLEVELAND 5TH: F Gutierrez tripled to deep center. J Barfield struck out
swinging. G Sizemore singled to right, F Gutierrez scored. G Sizemore stole
second. C Blake walked. V Martinez lined into double play, second to
shortstop, G Sizemore doubled off second.(1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 3,
MINNESOTA 2.

CLEVELAND 7TH: K Lofton safe at second on error by second baseman
A Casilla. F Gutierrez singled to left, K Lofton to third. M Guerrier relieved
J Santana. J Barfield flied out to right. D Reyes relieved M Guerrier.
G Sizemore singled to left, K Lofton scored, F Gutierrez to second. P Neshek
relieved D Reyes. C Blake grounded into fielder's choice double play, shortstop
to second to first to second to first to shortstop, F Gutierrez scored,
G Sizemore out at second, C Blake out at second.(2 Runs, 2 Hits, 2 Errors)
CLEVELAND 5, MINNESOTA 2.</div>

 

AL: CLEVELAND at MINNESOTA

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CLEVELAND (5) AT MINNESOTA (2) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cleveland Starting Lineups -- G Sizemore CF, C Blake 3B, V Martinez C, R Garko 1B,
T Hafner DH, J Peralta SS, K Lofton LF, F Gutierrez RF, J Barfield 2B,
C Sabathia LHP.

Minnesota Starting Lineups -- J Tyner LF, J Bartlett SS, J Mauer C, M Cuddyer RF,
J Morneau 1B, T Hunter CF, M Redmond DH, N Punto 3B, A Casilla 2B, J Santana LHP.

Umpires -- Dale Scott (HP), Ron Kulpa (1B), Paul Emmel (2B), Dan Iassogna (3B).


Gametime Weather: INDOORS.


CLEVELAND 1ST: G Sizemore flied out to left. C Blake struck out swinging.
V Martinez flied out to left. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 0,
MINNESOTA 0.

MINNESOTA 1ST: J Tyner struck out swinging. J Bartlett grounded out to
third. J Mauer struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 0,
MINNESOTA 0.

CLEVELAND 2ND: R Garko struck out swinging. T Hafner walked. J Peralta
struck out swinging. K Lofton struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
CLEVELAND 0, MINNESOTA 0.

MINNESOTA 2ND: M Cuddyer singled to left center. J Morneau grounded into
double play, shortstop to first, M Cuddyer out at second. T Hunter singled to
right center. T Hunter caught stealing second, pitcher to second.(0 Runs,
2 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 0, MINNESOTA 0.

CLEVELAND 3RD: F Gutierrez flied out to center. J Barfield singled to
center. G Sizemore homered to right, J Barfield scored. C Blake doubled to
deep right center. V Martinez struck out swinging. C Blake to third on wild
pitch by J Santana. R Garko flied out to right. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors)
CLEVELAND 2, MINNESOTA 0.

MINNESOTA 3RD: M Redmond singled to right. M Redmond to second on wild
pitch by C Sabathia. N Punto grounded out to second, M Redmond to third.
A Casilla singled to left, M Redmond scored. J Tyner grounded out to shortstop,
A Casilla to second. J Bartlett grounded out to third. (1 Run, 2 Hits,
0 Errors) CLEVELAND 2, MINNESOTA 1.

CLEVELAND 4TH: T Hafner flied out to left. J Peralta struck out swinging.
K Lofton flied out to right. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 2, MINNESOTA 1.

MINNESOTA 4TH: J Mauer flied out to left. M Cuddyer doubled to deep left.
J Morneau fouled out to first. T Hunter doubled to deep left, M Cuddyer
scored. M Redmond intentionally walked. N Punto popped out to first. (1 Run,
2 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 2, MINNESOTA 2.

CLEVELAND 5TH: F Gutierrez tripled to deep center. J Barfield struck out
swinging. G Sizemore singled to right, F Gutierrez scored. G Sizemore stole
second. C Blake walked. V Martinez lined into double play, second to
shortstop, G Sizemore doubled off second.(1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 3,
MINNESOTA 2.

MINNESOTA 5TH: A Casilla grounded out to third. J Tyner grounded out to
third. J Bartlett singled to left. J Mauer singled to center, J Bartlett to
third. M Cuddyer struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 3,
MINNESOTA 2.

CLEVELAND 6TH: R Garko flied out to center. T Hafner fouled out to left.
J Peralta struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 3,
MINNESOTA 2.

MINNESOTA 6TH: J Morneau grounded out to second. T Hunter walked.
M Redmond grounded out to shortstop, T Hunter to second. N Punto flied out to
right. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 3, MINNESOTA 2.

CLEVELAND 7TH: K Lofton safe at second on error by second baseman A Casilla.
F Gutierrez singled to left, K Lofton to third. M Guerrier relieved
J Santana. J Barfield flied out to right. D Reyes relieved M Guerrier.
G Sizemore singled to left, K Lofton scored, F Gutierrez to second. P Neshek
relieved D Reyes. C Blake grounded into fielder's choice double play, shortstop
to second to first to second to first to shortstop, F Gutierrez scored,
G Sizemore out at second, C Blake out at second.(2 Runs, 2 Hits, 2 Errors)
CLEVELAND 5, MINNESOTA 2.

MINNESOTA 7TH: A Fultz relieved C Sabathia. A Casilla struck out swinging.
J Tyner walked. R Betancourt relieved A Fultz. J Bartlett struck out swinging.
J Mauer lined out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 5,
MINNESOTA 2.

CLEVELAND 8TH: V Martinez singled to center. R Garko flied out to center.
T Hafner walked, V Martinez to second. J Peralta lined out to third. K Lofton
struck out looking. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 5, MINNESOTA 2.

MINNESOTA 8TH: M Cuddyer struck out swinging. J Morneau flied out to left.
T Hunter popped out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 5,
MINNESOTA 2.

CLEVELAND 9TH: R Ortiz relieved P Neshek. F Gutierrez struck out swinging.
J Barfield struck out swinging. G Sizemore fouled out to left. (0 Runs,
0 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 5, MINNESOTA 2.

MINNESOTA 9TH: J Borowski relieved R Betancourt. M Redmond safe at second
on error by third baseman C Blake. B Buscher hit for N Punto. B Buscher flied
out to right. J Kubel hit for A Casilla. J Kubel flied out to left. J Tyner
grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 1 Error) CLEVELAND 5, MINNESOTA 2.</div>

 

Sizemore drives in four as Sabathia outduels Santana

<h3>CLEVELAND 5, MINNESOTA 2</h3>By Anthony Maggio
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) - Age 25 has been good so far for GradySizemore.


After getting two hits and driving in two runs on his birthdayThursday, Sizemore homered and drove in four runs as theCleveland Indians topped the Minnesota Twins, 5-2, on Friday.

Sizemore hit a two-run homer off Johan Santana in the thirdinning to extend his hitting streak to a season-high 11 games,then singled home the eventual game-winner off Santana in thefifth inning.


"I'm getting old," Sizemore joked. "It's only two days.There's a lot of baseball left."


C.C. Sabathia (14-6) allowed two runs on eight hits in sixinnings to win for just the second time in his last sixdecisions, helping the Indians start out the four-game serieswith a victory. It marked the first time Cleveland has won twoconsecutive games since July 19-20.


The contest was an emotional one for Minnesota, which had itsThursday game against Kansas City postponed because of thetragic Interstate 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis onWednesday night. The bridge stood mere blocks from theMetrodome and cut off the city's major North/South thoroughfarewhile killing at least five people and injuring nearly 100 withmany still missing.


"It was tough before the ballgame with the little tributethere," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "I'm sure it hadmore than one person's tears in their eyes. As we know, ourhearts are all with them."


As if that wasn't enough, the Twins fell 6 1/2 games behind theIndians in the wild card race. The Indians, meanwhile, leapedover Detroit to take a half game lead in the American LeagueCentral as the Tigers lost to Chicago, 7-4, on Friday, and nowlead the wild card standings.


"Any time you get a victory against Johan Santana, he's one ofthe best in the game and he's tough to get runs off of," Indiansthird baseman Casey Blake said. "Grady had a heck of a night.He was basically our whole offense."


The contest was close through six innings until the Indiansbroke it open with a two-run seventh.


Kenny Lofton reached second to start the inning on a two-baseerror from rookie second-baseman Alexi Casilla, who misplayed abloop hit behind second base. Gutierrez singled Lofton to thirdto end Santana's night, and Sizemore brought in the runner fromthird with a single off reliever Dennys Reyes.


Franklin Gutierrez scored the fifth run on another Casilla errorin the next at-bat, as he threw wildly to first trying todouble-up Casey Blake on a ground ball. Blake was caught in arun-down, but Gutierrez scored well before Blake was tagged.

Santana (11-9) allowed five runs - three earned - on six hitswith two walks and eight strikeouts, losing for the third timein his last four starts. He has a 4.85 ERA in those games,after going 5-0 in his previous five outings with a 1.03 ERA.

"I was trying to make something special and hopefully havesomething positive here in the Twin Cities," Santana said."Unfortunately it didn't happen, but we have to keep on doingwhat we do."


"Nothing Johan does scares me," Gardenhire said. "He's one ofthe best pitchers in the game if not the best pitcher in thegame. I don't worry too much about Johan Santana."

But the two-time Cy Young winner couldn't slow down Sizemore,who had his third straight multi-hit night with all his RBIcoming off lefthanded pitchers. He also stole his 28th base ofthe season.


"He did a little bit of everything today," Indians manager EricWedge said. "It's a lot of work on his part. You talk about astar player never getting complacent, never being satisfied,he's the greatest example of that."


After hitting .214 off lefthanded pitching in 2006, Sizemore isbatting .283 against them this season.


"I still think I can get a lot better," Sizemore said. "It'ssomething that will probably take time and more experience toget comfortable and see more guys. It's a work in progress."

Sizemore got the scoring started in the third inning with a homerun to right field. The round-tripper plated Josh Barfield, whomanaged the Indians' first hit off Santana in the previousat-bat.


Twins designated hitter Mike Redmond singled and went to secondon a wild pitch to start the bottom half of the frame, went tothird on Nick Punto's groundout, then scored when Casilla rippedan 0-2 pitch from Sabathia to left field.


Minnesota tied the score in the fourth inning with a double fromMichael Cuddyer and a two-out RBI double from Torii Hunter.But Sabathia avoided more damage from there, and the Indianstook the lead for good in the fifth.


Franklin Gutierrez tripled to lead off the frame and Sizemoreplated him with a single two batters later. Aaron Fultz andRafael Betancourt held Minnesota scoreless in the seventh andeighth innings and Joe Borowski logged a scoreless ninth for his30th save in 33 chances.


Gutierrez went 2-for-4 with two runs scored for the Indians.

Cuddyer and Hunter both had two hits for Minnesota, which lostits second straight contest after winning four in a row.