GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: AL: SEATTLE (73-58) at CLEVELAND (75-57)

AL: SEATTLE at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
AL
SEATTLE 5
CLEVELAND 6 FINAL</div>

 

Lofton's walk-off base on balls lifts red-hot Indians

<h3>CLEVELAND 6, SEATTLE 5</h3>By Todd Krepop
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Kenny Lofton drew a bases-loaded walk inthe bottom of the ninth inning to provide the Cleveland Indianstheir sixth straight win, 6-5, over the slumping Seattle Marinerson Thursday night.


Victor Martinez started the winning rally with a one-out linesingle to left - his third hit of the game - off Eric O'Flaherty(7-1). Pinch runner Josh Barfield advanced to second when RyanGarko was hit by an 0-2 pitch.


Rick White entered and retired Jhonny Peralta on a lineoutbefore walking Franklin Gutierrez to load the bases for Lofton,who laid off a high-inside 3-2 pitch.


Cleveland scored twice in the seventh to take a 4-3 lead and wason the verge of the win until Joe Borowski (3-5) blew his sixthsave in the ninth.


He walked Ben Broussard on seven pitches to lead off the framebefore Kenji Johjima singled to left field. After Adam Jonessacrificed, Yuniesky Betancourt plated Broussard with a slowroller to second base.


Garko and Martinez each had an RBI hit in the seventh inning asthe Indians stretched their winning streak to six games with a5-4 victory over the slumping Seattle Mariners.


The winning streak equals a season high for the Indians, whomaintained their 4 1/2 game lead over Detroit in the AmericanLeague Central.


After scoring three runs in the second, Cleveland saw its 3-0lead turn into a 4-3 deficit heading into the bottom of theseventh.


Grady Sizemore started the rally with a one-out walk againstGeorge Sherrill. After an Asdrubal Cabrera strikeout, TravisHafner kept the inning alive with a single to left. Martinezfollowed by ripping a single to left to tie the game as Hafnerwent to third.


Brandon Morrow relieved Sherrill and quickly got ahead 1-2.Garko took a ball before putting the Indians ahead with a doubleoff of the outstretched glove of left fielder Raul Ibanez.

It was only the sixth RBI of the month for Garko.


Cleveland looked like it was on its way to an easy win as rookiestarter Aaron Laffey had retired 11 batters in a row, but AdamJones snapped the skid by blasting Laffey's 1-1 pitch into thecenter field seats. It was the first home run of the season forthe Mariners top prospect, who was called up earlier in themonth. Jones had just one hit in his previous 17 at-bats.

The Mariners added another run later in the inning on JoseGuillen's RBI single and took the lead in the seventh on RBIsingles by Jones and Yuniesky Betancourt to take a 4-3 lead, butit wasn't enough to prevent the Mariners from falling a gamebehind the New York Yankees in the race for the American Leaguewildcard.


Seattle starter Horacio Ramirez only had one bad inning - thesecond - as he held Cleveland to three runs on six hits in 52/3. The lefthander was aided by a nice pickoff move, whichcaught two Indians base runners napping.


Cleveland scored three runs in the second - all with two out -to take a 3-0 lead. With a runner on first and two out,Gutierrez doubled off of the left field wall. Jason Michaelsfollowed with a two-run single to left and went to second on thethrow. Michaels head's up base running was crucial as Gomezsingled through the hole at second to plate Michaels.

The runs looked like it would be enough for Laffey, who pitchedwell early in just his fourth major league start. Thelefthander, who replaced Cliff Lee in the rotation, allowed fourruns on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings.


It was the third makeup game between the two clubs from an Aprilsnowstorm that wiped out a four-game series. The fourth gamewill be made up as part of a doubleheader on September 26.

 

AL: SEATTLE at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
AL
SEATTLE 5
CLEVELAND 6 FINAL</div>

 

AL: SEATTLE at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SEATTLE (5) AT CLEVELAND (6) - HOW THEY SCORED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CLEVELAND 2ND: V Martinez singled to left. R Garko grounded into fielder's
choice to third, V Martinez out at second. J Peralta struck out looking.
F Gutierrez doubled to left, R Garko to third. J Michaels singled to left,
R Garko and F Gutierrez scored, J Michaels to second advancing on throw. C Gomez
singled to right, J Michaels scored, C Gomez to second advancing on throw.
G Sizemore walked. A Cabrera grounded out to pitcher. (3 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors)
SEATTLE 0, CLEVELAND 3.

SEATTLE 6TH: A Jones homered to center. Y Betancourt doubled to left.
I Suzuki popped out to first. J Vidro grounded out to third. J Guillen singled
to right, Y Betancourt scored. R Ibanez grounded into fielder's choice to
third, J Guillen out at second. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 2,
CLEVELAND 3.

SEATTLE 7TH: A Beltre singled to right. W Bloomquist struck out swinging.
K Johjima doubled to left, A Beltre to third. R Perez relieved A Laffey.
A Jones singled to left center, A Beltre scored, K Johjima to third.
Y Betancourt singled to left, K Johjima scored, A Jones to second. I Suzuki
struck out swinging. J Vidro grounded out to second. (2 Runs, 4 Hits,
0 Errors) SEATTLE 4, CLEVELAND 3.

CLEVELAND 7TH: C Gomez grounded out to pitcher. G Sherrill relieved
S Green. G Sizemore walked. A Cabrera struck out swinging. T Hafner singled to
shallow left, G Sizemore to second. V Martinez singled to right, G Sizemore
scored, T Hafner to third. B Morrow relieved G Sherrill. R Garko doubled to
left, T Hafner scored, V Martinez to third. J Peralta flied out to left.
(2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 4, CLEVELAND 5.

SEATTLE 9TH: K Lofton in left field. J Borowski relieved R Perez.
B Broussard hit for W Bloomquist. B Broussard walked. K Johjima singled to left,
B Broussard to second. J Lopez ran for K Johjima. A Jones sacrificed to third,
B Broussard to third, J Lopez to second. Y Betancourt grounded out to second,
B Broussard scored, J Lopez to third. I Suzuki intentionally walked. J Vidro
struck out looking. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 5, CLEVELAND 5.

CLEVELAND 9TH: J Burke catching. B Broussard at first base. J Lopez at
second base. E O'Flaherty relieved B Morrow. T Hafner grounded out to second.
V Martinez singled to left. J Barfield ran for V Martinez. R Garko hit by
pitch, J Barfield to second. R White relieved E O'Flaherty. J Peralta flied
out to right. F Gutierrez walked, J Barfield to third, R Garko to second.
K Lofton walked, J Barfield scored, R Garko to third, F Gutierrez to second.
(1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 5, CLEVELAND 6.</div>

 

AL: SEATTLE at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SEATTLE (5) AT CLEVELAND (6) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seattle Starting Lineups -- I Suzuki CF, J Vidro 2B, J Guillen DH, R Ibanez LF,
A Beltre 3B, R Sexson 1B, K Johjima C, A Jones RF, Y Betancourt SS, H Ramirez LHP.

Cleveland Starting Lineups -- G Sizemore CF, A Cabrera 2B, T Hafner DH, V
Martinez C, R Garko 1B, J Peralta SS, F Gutierrez RF, J Michaels LF, C Gomez 3B,
A Laffey LHP.

Umpires -- Sam Holbrook (HP), Randy Marsh (1B), Bob Davidson (2B),
Hunter Wendelstedt (3B).

Gametime Weather: 71 degrees, Clear, wind in from center at 12 mph.


SEATTLE 1ST: I Suzuki reached on infield single to shortstop. J Vidro
struck out swinging. J Guillen grounded into double play, shortstop to second
to first, I Suzuki out at second.(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 0,
CLEVELAND 0.

CLEVELAND 1ST: G Sizemore grounded out to third. A Cabrera grounded out to
third. T Hafner grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 0,
CLEVELAND 0.

SEATTLE 2ND: R Ibanez grounded out to third. A Beltre doubled to right.
R Sexson lined out to pitcher. K Johjima grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 0, CLEVELAND 0.

CLEVELAND 2ND: V Martinez singled to left. R Garko grounded into fielder's
choice to third, V Martinez out at second. J Peralta struck out looking.
F Gutierrez doubled to left, R Garko to third. J Michaels singled to left,
R Garko and F Gutierrez scored, J Michaels to second advancing on throw. C Gomez
singled to right, J Michaels scored, C Gomez to second advancing on throw.
G Sizemore walked. A Cabrera grounded out to pitcher. (3 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors)
SEATTLE 0, CLEVELAND 3.

SEATTLE 3RD: A Jones struck out swinging. Y Betancourt lined out to right.
I Suzuki grounded out to pitcher. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 0,
CLEVELAND 3.

CLEVELAND 3RD: T Hafner grounded out to pitcher. V Martinez grounded out
to shortstop. R Garko walked. J Peralta flied out to left. (0 Runs, 0 Hits,
0 Errors) SEATTLE 0, CLEVELAND 3.

SEATTLE 4TH: J Vidro grounded out to shortstop. J Guillen grounded out to
shortstop. R Ibanez grounded out to pitcher. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
SEATTLE 0, CLEVELAND 3.

CLEVELAND 4TH: F Gutierrez flied out to center. J Michaels singled to
right. J Michaels caught stealing second, pitcher to first to shortstop.
Cleveland's Manager E Wedge ejected by S Holbrook in the 4th. C Gomez flied out
to center. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 0, CLEVELAND 3.

SEATTLE 5TH: A Beltre struck out swinging. R Sexson grounded out to third.
K Johjima grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 0,
CLEVELAND 3.

CLEVELAND 5TH: J Vidro at first base. W Bloomquist at second base.
G Sizemore walked. G Sizemore caught stealing second, pitcher to first to
shortstop. A Cabrera fouled out to right. T Hafner grounded out to shortstop.
(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 0, CLEVELAND 3.

SEATTLE 6TH: A Jones homered to center. Y Betancourt doubled to left.
I Suzuki popped out to first. J Vidro grounded out to third. J Guillen singled
to right, Y Betancourt scored. R Ibanez grounded into fielder's choice to
third, J Guillen out at second. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 2,
CLEVELAND 3.

CLEVELAND 6TH: V Martinez grounded out to second. R Garko struck out
swinging. J Peralta singled to left. S Green relieved H Ramirez. F Gutierrez
singled to shallow left, J Peralta to third. J Michaels struck out swinging.
(0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 2, CLEVELAND 3.

SEATTLE 7TH: A Beltre singled to right. W Bloomquist struck out swinging.
K Johjima doubled to left, A Beltre to third. R Perez relieved A Laffey.
A Jones singled to left center, A Beltre scored, K Johjima to third. Y
Betancourt singled to left, K Johjima scored, A Jones to second. I Suzuki
struck out swinging. J Vidro grounded out to second. (2 Runs, 4 Hits,
0 Errors) SEATTLE 4, CLEVELAND 3.

CLEVELAND 7TH: C Gomez grounded out to pitcher. G Sherrill relieved
S Green. G Sizemore walked. A Cabrera struck out swinging. T Hafner singled to
shallow left, G Sizemore to second. V Martinez singled to right, G Sizemore
scored, T Hafner to third. B Morrow relieved G Sherrill. R Garko doubled to
left, T Hafner scored, V Martinez to third. J Peralta flied out to left.
(2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 4, CLEVELAND 5.

SEATTLE 8TH: J Guillen struck out swinging. R Ibanez struck out swinging.
A Beltre struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 4, CLEVELAND 5.

CLEVELAND 8TH: F Gutierrez grounded out to shortstop. K Lofton hit for J
Michaels. K Lofton grounded out to second. C Gomez singled to left. G
Sizemore singled to right, C Gomez to third. A Cabrera flied out to center.
(0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 4, CLEVELAND 5.

SEATTLE 9TH: K Lofton in left field. J Borowski relieved R Perez.
B Broussard hit for W Bloomquist. B Broussard walked. K Johjima singled to left,
B Broussard to second. J Lopez ran for K Johjima. A Jones sacrificed to third,
B Broussard to third, J Lopez to second. Y Betancourt grounded out to second,
B Broussard scored, J Lopez to third. I Suzuki intentionally walked. J Vidro
struck out looking. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 5, CLEVELAND 5.

CLEVELAND 9TH: J Burke catching. B Broussard at first base. J Lopez at
second base. E O'Flaherty relieved B Morrow. T Hafner grounded out to second.
V Martinez singled to left. J Barfield ran for V Martinez. R Garko hit by
pitch, J Barfield to second. R White relieved E O'Flaherty. J Peralta flied
out to right. F Gutierrez walked, J Barfield to third, R Garko to second.
K Lofton walked, J Barfield scored, R Garko to third, F Gutierrez to second.
(1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 5, CLEVELAND 6.</div>

 

Lofton's walk-off base on balls lifts red-hot Indians

<h3>CLEVELAND 6, SEATTLE 5</h3>By Todd Krepop
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Kenny Lofton drew a bases-loaded walk inthe bottom of the ninth inning to provide the Cleveland Indianstheir sixth straight win, 6-5, over the slumping Seattle Marinerson Thursday night.


Victor Martinez started the winning rally with a one-out linesingle to left - his third hit of the game - off Eric O'Flaherty(7-1). Pinch runner Josh Barfield advanced to second when RyanGarko was hit by an 0-2 pitch.


Rick White entered and retired Jhonny Peralta on a lineoutbefore walking Franklin Gutierrez to load the bases for Lofton,who laid off a high-inside 3-2 pitch.


"The pressure is always on the pitcher," Lofton said. "He's gotto throw strikes. I thought it was a ball. If it was a strike,I would have swung.


"I'm not usually the guy with the RBI. I'm usually the guybefore the guy with the RBI."


White didn't agree with the call by home plate umpire SamHolbrook.


"I thought it was a strike," White said. "I don't know if Loftonjumped so bad he locked up the umpire, but it looked like astrike. (Holbrook) said it was high and inside. I looked at thetape and it wasn't high."


Cleveland scored twice in the seventh to take a 4-3 lead and wason the verge of the win until Joe Borowski (3-5) blew his sixthsave in the ninth.


He walked Ben Broussard on seven pitches to lead off the framebefore Kenji Johjima singled to left field. After Adam Jonessacrificed, Yuniesky Betancourt plated Broussard with a slowroller to second base.


"There is no other way to put it, the leadoff walk changed theinning," Borowski said. "I was lucky that only run scored and wecame back."


Garko and Martinez each had an RBI hit in the seventh inning asthe Indians stretched their winning streak to six games with a5-4 victory over the slumping Seattle Mariners.


The winning streak equals a season high for the Indians, whomaintained their 4 1/2 game lead over Detroit in the AmericanLeague Central.


"It was a battle," said bench coach Jeff Datz, who took over themanagerial reigns after Eric Wedge was ejected in the fourth."Our guys continued to put up very good at-bats."


After scoring three runs in the second, Cleveland saw its 3-0lead turn into a 4-3 deficit heading into the bottom of theseventh.


Grady Sizemore started the rally with a one-out walk againstGeorge Sherrill. After an Asdrubal Cabrera strikeout, TravisHafner kept the inning alive with a single to left. Martinezfollowed by ripping a single to left to tie the game as Hafnerwent to third.


Brandon Morrow relieved Sherrill and quickly got ahead 1-2.Garko took a ball before putting the Indians ahead with a doubleoff of the outstretched glove of left fielder Raul Ibanez.

It was only the sixth RBI of the month for Garko.


Cleveland looked like it was on its way to an easy win as rookiestarter Aaron Laffey had retired 11 batters in a row, but AdamJones snapped the skid by blasting Laffey's 1-1 pitch into thecenter field seats.


It was the first home run of the season for the Mariners topprospect, who was called up earlier in the month. Jones hadjust one hit in his previous 17 at-bats.


"I don't get to play a lot, so I just try to make the best ofit," Jones said.


The Mariners added another run later in the inning on JoseGuillen's RBI single and took the lead in the seventh on RBIsingles by Jones and Yuniesky Betancourt to take a 4-3 lead.

"We did everything we were supposed to but win the game,"lamented Mariners manager John McLaren.


However it wasn't enough to prevent the Mariners from losingtheir sixth straight game and fall a game behind the New YorkYankees in the race for the American League wild card.

"These guys are busting their tails and playing hard," McLarensaid. "We need a win to feel good about ourselves."

Seattle starter Horacio Ramirez only had one bad inning - thesecond - as he held Cleveland to three runs on six hits in 5 2/3frames. The lefthander was aided by a nice pickoff move, whichcaught two Indians baserunners napping.


Cleveland scored three runs in the second - all with two out -to take a 3-0 lead. With a runner on first and two out,Gutierrez doubled off of the left field wall. Jason Michaelsfollowed with a two-run single to left and went to second on thethrow. Michaels heads-up base running was crucial as Gomezsingled through the hole at second to plate Michaels.

The runs looked like it would be enough for Laffey, who pitchedwell early in just his fourth major league start. Thelefthander, who has replaced Cliff Lee in the rotation, allowedfour runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings.


It was the third makeup game between the two clubs from an Aprilsnowstorm that wiped out a four-game series. The fourth gamewill be made up as part of a doubleheader on September 26 inSeattle.