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  Sunday, Apr. 16 1:05pm ET
Indians top Rangers with back-to-back homers
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

CLEVELAND (AP) -- As Chuck Finley sprinted toward home plate to help mob Jim Thome, it hit him again. This was exactly why he wanted to pitch for the Cleveland Indians.

Chuck Finley
Chuck Finley struck out four in one inning -- for the third time in his career.

"That was just a great game to be involved with," Finley said. "A throwback game. Wow, was that exciting."

Thome's one-out homer into the Indians' bullpen followed Manny Ramirez's shot to deep center in the ninth inning off John Wetteland on Sunday as Cleveland rallied to beat the Texas Rangers 2-1.

The two drives -- the 201st career homers for both players -- helped Finley win his home debut for the Indians, who were held to two hits through eight innings.

Despite striking out 13 and pitching a five-hitter, Finley (1-0) looked like he was going to be a hard-luck loser when he walked off the mound to a standing ovation in the ninth.

But Ramirez and Thome took care of things, giving Finley his first win with Cleveland and giving Indians rookie manager Charlie Manuel his first home win.

"If you would have told me we would go out there and hit back-to-back homers off Wetteland to win it," Thome said shaking his head, "I would have said you were crazy."

Then Finley must be.

Before Ramirez walked to the plate in the ninth, Finley said he was hoping for the kind of Jacobs Field magic he saw the Indians pull off while sitting in the visitors' dugout here.

"I said, 'Wouldn't it be nice if we got back-to-back homers and walked out of here?' " Finley said.

Ramirez had struck out in his first three at-bats and was just 2-for-15 with nine strikeouts against Wetteland. But after taking a close pitch for ball three, he drove a full-count pitch 432 feet for his third homer.

Up came Thome looking to win it with one swing and did, lining a 2-2 pitch that with some urging from Cleveland's relievers just cleared the wall. Wetteland had converted his previous 18 save opportunities.

"Those two balls were hit, man," said Manuel. "We've had some big days here, but I can't remember us hitting back-to-back homers like that to win it."

When Thome's low liner finally went out, the Indians poured out of the dugout to greet Thome, who had to fight his way through the pack at home plate.

"I wanted to get out of there quick because I knew they were going to beat me up," Thome said.

Texas starter Esteban Loaiza pitched 7 1/3 shutout innings and struck out a career-high 10 for the Rangers, who were looking for their first sweep in Cleveland since 1992.

But after Jeff Zimmerman got two outs in the eighth, Wetteland couldn't close it. He entered the game with 21 saves against the Indians, his most against any team.

Wetteland felt especially bad for Loaiza, who didn't allow a hit until the fifth and struck out five straight in one stretch.

"That's the real difficult part," Wetteland said. "He threw two hits up there. I feel terrible for him. I don't know what more you could do to win a ballgame. It's my responsibility and I didn't get it done."

Finley, who signed a three-year, $27 million free agent contract with the Indians for a chance to win a World Series ring, broke his own major league record by striking out four batters in one inning for the third time in his career.

He already was the only pitcher to strike out four batters in one inning twice.

"That's not something I really want to practice," Finley said.

Finley got some help from Roberto Alomar in the first. Alomar made a diving stop behind second base on Ivan Rodriguez's grounder and from the ground flipped the ball to Omar Vizquel who turned the double play.

Then in the fifth, center field Jacob Cruz threw out Royce Clayton at third.

"We made some great defensive plays," said Finley, who had his 58th career complete game. "I used to see those guys do that all the time."

Game notes
Finley entered with an 8-17 record and 4.73 ERA against Texas. ... Hall of Famer Bob Feller threw out the ceremonial first pitch on the 60th anniversary of his opening day no-hitter in 1940 at Chicago's Comiskey Park. ... The Indians are continuing sales of group tickets for September dates despite saying last week that the entire 2000 home schedule was a complete sellout. ... Texas CF Rusty Greer's surgery to remove bone spurs in his right ankle went as expected in Dallas on Sunday. The team said Greer would be in a walking cast for 5-7 days and will be sidelined for 4-6 weeks. ... Finley, who struck out 10 in his first start, had his 29th career double-digit strikeout game.
 


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Boston 5
Oakland 4

Cleveland 2
Texas 1

Tampa Bay 7
Detroit 6

NY Yankees 8
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Seattle 19
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Colorado 14
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(2nd game)

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Cincinnati 5
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