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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CLEVELAND (AP) -- When Manny Ramirez is in right field and
batting cleanup, the Cleveland Indians are a different team.
Just look it up.
|  | | Manny Ramirez, right, has 13 grand slams, tying him for second on the active career list with Harold Baines. |
Ramirez hit his 13th career grand slam and Jason Bere took a
shutout into the seventh inning Saturday, leading the Indians to a
10-4 victory over the slumping Seattle Mariners, who dropped their
seventh in a row.
Ramirez, who missed 39 games this season with a strained right
hamstring, connected for his 25th homer in the sixth inning off
Jamie Moyer (11-7) as the Indians won their second straight in an
important six-game homestand.
While Ramirez was healing, the Indians missed him badly.
Cleveland went 19-20 without their All-Star right fielder and
watched Chicago pull away in the AL Central.
Yet despite missing nearly one-quarter of the season, Ramirez,
who drove in 165 runs last year, still leads the Indians with 80
RBI this year. And since returning from the DL on July 13, Ramirez
has 12 homers and 33 RBI.
"All you have to do is look at his stats," Indians manager
Charlie Manuel said. "He's playing great. I just hope it
continues."
Cleveland improved to 6-2 against AL West-leading Seattle.
"It's a funny year," Manuel said. "It's hard to figure out
how we can take two of three out there, beat them twice in our
ballpark and then not be able to beat some of these other teams."
The win moved the Indians within one game of Oakland in the
wild-card race. The Athletics, who swept Cleveland earlier this
week, lost to Detroit 4-3 Saturday are tied with Boston for the wild-card lead.
Bere (3-2) sidestepped trouble in the first two innings and
allowed two runs and five hits in 6 2/3 innings for his first
career victory at Jacobs Field. In six career starts, Bere was 0-4
with a 15.06 ERA.
Asked why he had so much trouble here, Bere, who also played in
Chicago and Milwaukee said, "Cleveland's lineup."
David Segui and Kenny Lofton added solo homers for Cleveland.
Both benches emptied twice in the bottom of the eighth when
former Indians reliever Jose Mesa threw two inside pitches at Omar
Vizquel.
"I have no idea what that was all about," Manuel said. "It's
between those two. That wasn't much of a fight though, was it?"
Vizquel didn't want to talk about the confrontation."
"There's nothing to say," said Vizquel, whose locker was next
to Mesa's while the pitcher was with Cleveland. "It's just one of
those crazy things."
Seattle's losing streak is its longest since dropping seven in a
row from July 6-16 last season. The Mariners haven't lost eight
straight since a club record 14-game slide in '92.
"What can I say?" Mariners manager Lou Piniella said. "We're
scuffling and have got to battle through this."
Moyer lost his fourth straight start, but managed to avoid
giving up double-digit runs. The left-hander, tattooed for 22 runs
and 23 hits in his previous two outings, allowed five earned runs
and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings.
Moyer has given up 40 hits in his last 20 innings and has a
12.60 ERA during his losing streak.
Alex Rodriguez went 3-for-5 with two RBI for the Mariners.
Cleveland led 1-0 in the sixth when Lofton walked. Vizquel and
Roberto Alomar followed with singles to load the bases, and Ramirez
cleared them by ripping Moyer's first pitch 417 feet.
"The leadoff walk was the problem," Moyer said. "You just
can't do that against any team, especially this one."
Bere settled down after escaping jams in the first two innings.
After striking out two, he gave up a pair of singles in the first
before fanning John Olerud.
In the second, the Mariners loaded the bases with two outs, but
Bere got Carlos Guillen to fly to left.
"Early in the game we had chances," Piniella said. "But we
just didn't get that done either."
Bere then retired 13 of 15 -- Al Martin was twice hit by pitches
-- before Mike Cameron singled to open the seventh. The Mariners
finally scored on Guillen's sacrifice fly and Rodriguez's RBI
single.
Game notes
Ramirez's 13 slams tie him for second on the active career
list with Harold Baines. Ken Griffey Jr. and Robin Ventura have 14
apiece. ... An official scorer's change took away one of Seattle 3B
Carlos Guillen's two errors Friday night. Travis Fryman was also
credited with two RBI for the hard grounder he hit at Guillen in
the third inning. ... Moyer and Houston's Jose Lima have both given
up 10 or more runs in back-to-back starts this year. According to
the Elias Sports Bureau, no pitcher had accomplished the dubious
feat since Alex Kellner did it for the 1950 Philadelphia Athletics.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Seattle Clubhouse
Cleveland Clubhouse
RECAPS
Cleveland 10
Seattle 4
NY Yankees 9
Anaheim 1
Boston 9
Texas 0
Minnesota 5
Toronto 1
Detroit 4
Oakland 3
Kansas City 7
Baltimore 0
Chi. White Sox 7
Tampa Bay 0
Cincinnati 7
Pittsburgh 1
Los Angeles 4
NY Mets 1
San Francisco 12
Atlanta 3
Colorado 10
Florida 3
Houston 10
Milwaukee 8
St. Louis 6
Philadelphia 3
Arizona 11
Chicago Cubs 3
San Diego 4
Montreal 3
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