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Sunday, May 28 2:05pm ET
Indians rebound, rout White Sox | |||||
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CHICAGO (AP) -- Don't forget which team has ruled the AL Central the last five years. The Cleveland Indians aren't in their familiar perch atop the division, but they showed again whey they're still the team to beat. "It just reminded us that we're a good team that can score runs. It reminded them that we are a good team," Travis Fryman said after his homer sparked a five-run sixth as the Indians salvaged a victory in a three-game series with Chicago, winning 12-3 on Sunday. "We know we have to raise the bar, raise our standard of play a little," Fryman said. "Every once in a while you need a reminder to learn that things don't come that easy." The Indians have been wearing out the disabled list all season _ nine trips already -- and on Sunday, they wore out Chicago's pitching. "It's been very frustrating. I've never seen so many players go down successively. To still hold together says a lot about our team," said Cleveland's Kenny Lofton, who had four of the Indians' 15 hits Sunday. The White Sox, still one-half up after winning Friday 5-3 and Saturday 14-3, didn't help themselves with the sloppy fielding and mental lapses that has been their bugaboo for three years. "Everything has to go right for you if you're going to sweep," Chicago manager Jerry Manuel said. "It's real difficult to beat a good team three straight." Slow-working Indians starter Bartolo Colon (5-2) struggled. He threw 118 pitches in five innings, giving up four hits. He struck out eight, walked five and ran his career record to 6-0 against the White Sox. Fryman's two-run homer off reliever Sean Lowe gave the Indians a 5-1 lead in the sixth and set a club record -- Cleveland has now homered in 19 straight games. After singles by Einar Diaz and Lofton, White Sox infielders Jose Valentin and Herbert Perry made back-to-back errors for another run, and Jim Thome then hit a two-run double for an 8-1 lead. "The hit by Fryman was the biggest hit of the game and gave them some breathing room," Jerry Manuel said. Frank Thomas hit a two-run homer, his 10th, to pull the White Sox within 8-3 against reliever Scott Kamieniecki in the seventh. But Roberto Alomar and Manny Ramirez hit consecutive RBI doubles in the eighth to restore the seven-run lead. Diaz hit a two-run homer in the ninth. "We'd heard how much they've improved," Cleveland manager Charlie Manuel said. "It was kind of a measuring stick for us." The teams will play seven more times in the next month. "People always make it that we've cruised and winning the Central came easy to us," Charlie Manuel said. "We still have to go out and play. I've tried to imbed that into our guys." Alomar also doubled in a run in the fifth off Kip Wells (3-4). Fryman's fourth-inning sacrifice gave Cleveland a 2-1 lead. Valentine walked and Thomas singled in the first and after a wild pitch, Magglio Ordonez hit a sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead. Sloppy fielding also helped Cleveland to its first run after Diaz singled with two outs in the third. Lofton hit a slow roller to second baseman Ray Durham who tried to tag Diaz as he picked up the ball, but it fell out of his glove and was ruled an infield hit. Omar Vizquel then hit a two-out single to tie the game. Game notesRoberto Alomar played despite a painful sprained left wrist. Alomar suffered the injury swinging the bat just before he homered Saturday night. X-rays taken Sunday were negative. ... The Indians also homered in 18 straight games in 1996 and 1959. ... The Indians have already used 18 pitchers this season. Five are rookies and six have pitched in the minors at some point in 2000. The club record for pitchers is 26 set in 1993. ... Indians left fielder Richie Sexson made a great catch of Chris Singleton's fourth-inning liner, going full speed into the gap and then laying out with a full stretch to get to the ball and save an extra-base hit. ... Valentin has 13 errors this season. A day after driving in six runs and missing the cycle for the second time this season by a single, Valentin walked and struck out four times. ... Wells lasted just 4 2/3 innings, allowing six hits and three runs. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Cleveland Clubhouse Chi. White Sox Clubhouse RECAPS Toronto 12 Detroit 7
Cleveland 12
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