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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CLEVELAND (AP) -- The Indians picked the right time to finally
start hitting again.
Pedro's on deck.
Kenny Lofton and Jim Thome homered in the first and Dave Burba
pitched five innings before the rain came Thursday night as
Cleveland avoided a sweep with a 9-5 win over the Oakland
Athletics.
Lofton's leadoff homer, Thome's two-run shot off Tim Hudson
(1-2) and Manny Ramirez's two-run homer in the seventh enabled the
Indians to salvage the series finale and conclude a season-opening
homestand at 2-4.
"We swung the bats better tonight and got the big hits," said
Thome. "We didn't get the big hits most of the homestand, so it
means a lot to do that tonight."
Cleveland came into the game in a team-wide offensive funk,
batting just .215 in its first five dates at Jacobs Field, usually
a place where they tee off on opposing pitchers.
But the Indians got 14 hits, giving them some momentum and
confidence as they prepare to face Pedro Martinez in Boston on
Friday night. Cleveland hasn't played at Fenway Park since being
bludgeoned 23-7 by the Red Sox in Game 4 of the AL playoffs last
October when Boston overcame a 2-0 deficit to win the series.
"I think we can get Pedro," said Indians manager Charlie
Manuel. "If we have the right kind of attitude we can beat him."
Roberto Alomar, who was bothered by a stiff neck to start the
season, went 3-for-4 -- he also hit a line drive off Hudson's chest
that forced him to leave.
"I'm swinging the bat much better now," Alomar said. "My neck
feels better and that makes a big difference."
Oakland's John Jaha tied a major league record by striking out
five times in a nine-inning game. Jaha is the 38th player in
history to match the dubious feat and first since Thome, who struck
out five times against Tampa Bay on April 9.
Burba (2-1) bounced back from a rough start against Texas by
striking out nine. He didn't return after the game was delayed for
1 hour, 42 minutes in the top of the sixth.
"The difference between this start and the last one was that I
was throwing my splitter really well," said Burba.
The A's thought so, too.
"Burba threw a great split tonight," Matt Stairs said. "He
kept us off balance. He seems to have changed his style of
pitching. I remember him with a good fastball and overhand curve.
Now he has this good pitch, too."
The A's loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth off Scott
Kamieniecki, who grabbed Ryan Christenson's hard liner to end the
inning and slammed the ball off the mound in disgust.
He was pounding his glove an inning later when Matt Stairs hit a
two-run homer to bring Oakland within 6-4. But Ricardo Rincon came
in with a runner on and struck out Ben Grieve and Eric Chavez.
Ramirez hit his fifth homer in the seventh off T.J. Mathews and
Jacob Cruz added an RBI to put Cleveland ahead 9-4.
Hudson left in the third inning with a bruised chest after being
struck by Alomar's liner.
With one out and a runner on first, Alomar sent a drive that
nailed Hudson as the right-hander was making his follow-through.
Hudson grabbed his chest and squatted down behind the mound in pain
as the ball rolled into right field and Alomar reached first.
"I think he dodged a bullet there," said A's manager Art Howe.
"A couple of inches higher and it hits his collarbone. It hit all
meat."
Hudson was replaced by Ron Mahay, who gave up an RBI groundout
to Ramirez as the Indians opened a 4-2 lead.
Game notes
Rincon, who struggled all last year, has not allowed a run
in his first six appearances. ... Oakland has had five players
strike out five times in a game. Jose Canseco was the last A's
player to do so on July 16, 1997, against Kansas City. ... A's
hitters have 101 strikeouts in their last 10 games. ... Alomar made
his third error in five games. He had a 65-game errorless streak
last season and made just three errors in his last 92 games. ...
Lofton has homered leading off a game 17 times during the regular
season in his career and once in the postseason. ... Bobby Witt
will make his first start for the Indians on Friday night in Boston
against Martinez. Witt, who unexpectedly made Cleveland's staff
after being invited to spring training as a non-roster player, is
12-5 in his career against the Red Sox.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Oakland Clubhouse
Cleveland Clubhouse
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RECAPS
Minnesota 9
Kansas City 7
Baltimore 8
Tampa Bay 4
Cleveland 9
Oakland 5
Boston 0
Detroit 0
Toronto 12
Anaheim 11
Cincinnati 11
San Francisco 1
Florida 3
Pittsburgh 2
Chicago Cubs 10
Montreal 6
NY Mets 5
Milwaukee 4
Atlanta 6
Philadelphia 4
St. Louis 14
San Diego 1
Arizona 3
Colorado 0
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