The Indians matched their longest win streak of the season on Tuesday, winning their fifth game in a row by beating the Baltimore Orioles 7-5.  Jensen Lewis picked up his second save of the season.  Jeremy Sowers left with a 5-3 lead and the bullpen blew it for him, letting the Orioles tie it up before an Asdrubal Cabera RBI single in the bottom of the eighth put the Indians ahead for good.

It was the second time in two nights the Indians squandered an early lead, but pulled it out late with some clutch hitting.  The Indians move a half a game up the Kansas City Royals and climb out of the AL Central cellar. 

Both Jeremy Sowers and Garrett Olson opened the game looking like they wouldn’t last very long, but both starters settled down : Olson goung six and Sowers six and a third.

Baltimore struck first in the top of the first, scoring two runs on two hits and a walk.  Brian Roberts started the game with the walk.  Nick Markakis continued his hit parade from last night, teeing off on Sowers for a double and moving Roberts to third.  Melvin Mora singled home Roberts and moved Markakis to third.  A sacrifice fly off the bat of Aubrey Huff to center fielder Grady Sizemore rounded out the Orioles first inning scoring.

The Indians picked Sowers right up, putting up a four spot in the bottom half of the inning.  Jamey Carroll started the Indians off with a single after Grady Sizemore grounded out to lead off the inning.  Carroll went to second on a wild pitch.  After a Ben Francisco strikeout, Peralta singled to left, and Carroll tested the arm of Louis Montanez by going for home.  Montanez made it close, but Carrroll made a great slide, avoiding the tag and dragging his back foot across the plate scoring the first run of the inning.   If Carroll is out, the Indians don’t score at all this inning.  Still alive, Kelly Shoppach walked, and Garko delivered a two-out RBI single scoring Peralta.  Montanez got tagged for an error, and Shoppach ended up on third and Garko on second.  Franklin Gutierrez pulled off the infield single, scoring Shoppach.  Andy Marte singled, scoring Garko, giving the Indians a 4-2 lead.  Cabrera flied out to end the inning.

The Indians extended their advantage to 5-2 in the fourth.  Cabrera opened the frame with a double, moved to third on a Carroll grounder that Mora bobbled and threw wide right into the stands behind first base, scoring Cabrera and putting Carroll on second.  The Indians couldn’t add to the lead.  Francisco flied out and Peralta grounded out, leaving Carroll stranded at second.

Baltimore trimmed the lead to 5-3 in the fifth.  On back-to-back singles by Payton and Castro, with Payton standing on third Markakis hit a long fly-out to right, scoring Payton.

In the top of the seventh, Sowers gave up a single to Montanez, and got Payton to fly-out, before yielding to Masa Kobayashi.  Kobayashi gave up a double to Scott, and a single to Roberts, scoring Montanez. 

The Indians brought in Rafael Perez to hold the lead, but he gave up a single to Markakis, scoring Scott and allowing Baltimore a 5-5 tie.

Perez got out of the inning by getting a double play ground-out by Melvin Mora.

Perez came back out after an ineffective seventh by the Indians offense, striking out two, allowing a hit, but holding the tie through eight.

The Indians offense came through in the bottom of the eighth.  Shin-Soo Choo entered as a pinch hitter and was hit by a pitch.   Marte laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt up the first base side, moving Choo to second.  Asdrubal Cabrera delivered the go ahead RBI single, scoring Choo.  Sizemore was intentionally walked, Carroll struck out, but Francisco pulled off an insurance run RBI single.

Jensen Lewis came on in the ninth in a save situation, and save the game he did, getting a fly-out and a pair of strike-outs to end the game."Lewis earned his second save of the season.  Perez ended up with the win.  Jim Johnson earned the loss.

The Indians insured themselves of at least a split in the four game series with Baltimore by winning the first two, and they keep alive the opportunity for two series sweeps in a row in the process. 

The two teams go again Wednesday.at 7:05 with the Indians going for their longest win streak of the season.  Jeremy Guthrie(9-8, 3.26 ERA) will battle Anthony Reyes (2-1, 3.86 ERA). 

Reyes is coming off his first start of the season, and it was a good one.  Guthrie is a former Indians prospect that was placed on waivers and picked up by Baltimore.

At the time this article posted, the White Sox were winners and the Twins were losing to the New York Yankees by three in the top of the ninth so it looks like the White Sox will move back into first place in the AL Central by a game.

The opening game of the Indians – Orioles could not have been any stranger had both teams wore throwback uniforms and it was a full-moon Friday the Thirteenth with a ladder set up over home plate and black cats crossing underneath.

The Indians opened up a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first, uncorking the strange plays immediately.

After Grady Sizemore walked, David Dellucci tripled, scoring Sizemore.  Ben Francisco singled Dellucci home.  Jhonny Peralta singled, moving Francisco to second, and the unusual baseball antics began.  Shin-Soo Choo hit a made-to-order double play ball back to the pitcher.  He flipped it to shortstop Alex Cintron.  Cintron missed the outside of the bag with the first foot, hopped and landed his back foot behind the bag prior to throwing to first.  Choo beat out the throw, and both runners were called safe.  Typically speaking, if a fielder’s foot is within, oh like a mile of the bag, the runner is called out.  In this case, the ump made the right call, and the manager argument ensued to no avail. 

Ryan Garko sac-flied in Francisco and Sal Fasano singled, scoring Peralta. 

In the bottom of the second, the Indians went up 5-0, this time on an Asdrubal Cabrera (3) home-run.

Baltimore drove in their first two runs of the game with some small ball and a missed double play by the Tribe.  Ramon Hernandez walked, Jay Payton singled.  Cintron grounded to first, and Payton was out at second for the first out of the inning.  Brian Roberts grounded to Asdrubal Cabrera.  He tried to tag Cintron on his way to second, missed, but Cintron was well out of the base path.  Cabrera threw to first for what appeared to be an inning ending double play, but Cintron was safe on the missed tag.  That scored Hernandez.  Nick Markakis doubled, scoring Cintron and making it 5-2.  In reality, Carmona should still have been pitching a shut-out.

In the top of the fourth, Aubrey Huff hit his 24^rd home run of the season, narrowing the gap to 5-3.

 In the bottom of the fifth, the Indians scored a pair as Peralta and Francisco led off the inning with walks.  That brought out Alex Castillo from the Baltimore bullpen.  He plunked Choo with a pitch, loading the bases.  Garko singled to left, scoring Peralta and reloading the bases.  Sal Fasano was the second Indian of the inning hit by a pitch and the fourth free pass of the inning, and Francisco scored.  With the Baltimore pitching having absolutely no control, Andy Marte inexplicably swung at three pitches in a row, two of them low, and recorded the first out of the inning.  Cabrera hit a weak popup for the second out, and Sizemore flied out, leaving the bases loaded.

Trailing 7-3. the Baltimore Orioles came all the way back in the top of the seventh, even taking an 8-7 lead!  After Carmona registered the first out of the inning, and Indians announcers made the comment that with one more out, Carmona would have the longest outing since returning from the DL, Fausto lost all control, walking Hernandez and Payton.  Cintron singled, giving the Orioles bases loaded with one out.  Roberts singled, moving all runners up one station and scoring Hernandez.  That was it for Carmona, at least in terms of pitches thrown.  He’d get tagged for three more runs one batter later when Edwardo Mujica allowed a bases clearing triple to Markakis.  That ended Carmona’s bid for the win since the game was tied at seven-up.  In the next strange occurrence of the game, Melvin Mora hit a sac-fly to right fielder Ben Francisco.  Francisco fired home, but the ball short hopped right through Fasano’s legs and Markakis, who looked like he’d be out, came in safely.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Indians retook the lead.  Rocky Cherry came on to pitch for Baltimore, and immediately gave up a double to Choo.  Garko singled Choo over to third, and the weirdness continued.  Shappach came on as a pinch hitter for Fasano.  He hit one to third, and Choo was caught in a run-down.  Orioles catcher Hernandez ran Choo all the way back to third, never getting rid of the ball, and Choo made it back safely.  Hernandez ran right through Choo, shoving him off the bag, and Choo was ruled safe on the push-off.  Choo scored on a sac-fly by pinch hitter Jamey Carroll, Carroll’s first pinch-hit RBI of the season.  Walker relieved Cherry and dished up a double to Cabrera, scoring Gonzalez, a pinch runner for Garko.  Sizemore then grounded out but scored Shoppach in another unusual play.  The groundout went to Baltimore’s first baseman, and the delay while he stepped on first was the half-step Shoppach needed for the slide home under the tag. 

In the eighth, the Indians tacked on another three.  Francisco solo homered on a 2-0 count with a no-doubter into the home-run porch.  Peralta followed that up with a double, and after a Choo pop-out, Andy Gonzalez homered, his first as an Indian, making it 13-8. 

Brendan Donelly came on in the top of the eighth, allowing one hit and no runs in his debut as an Indians big leaguer.  Donelly hadn’t pitched in the Bigs since June 10^th, 2007, while he was with Boston.

Jensen Lewis pitched a one-hit ninth, closing it out for the Tribe. 

The Indians ended the game with 13 runs on 13 hits.  Baltimore finished with eight runs on nine hits.  Francisco, Peralta, Garko, and Cabrera each had two hits for the Indians.  Markakis led the way for Baltimore with three hits and four RBI’s.

Tuesday is the second of four.  Garrett Olson(8-6, 6.06 ERA) goes for the Orioles against Jeremy Sowers(1-6, 5.70 ERA).

Minnesota took over first place in the AL Central with a win and a White Sox loss.

Lee wins 16^th, Indians Sweep Jays.

Cliff Lee pitched eight innings of scoreless, eight hit ball, Rafeal Perez insured Lee his 16^th win with a lock-down ninth, and the Cleveland Indians won 4-0 over the Toronto Blue Jays Sunday afternoon.

Lee is now 16-2 on the season with a 2.45 ERA. 

The Indians offense jumped on the Jays 2-0 in the first, and never looked back.  Grady Sizemore led off with a single.  David Dellucci doubled him home, and after a Kelly Shoppach strikeout, Jhonny Peralta singled home Dellucci for the early lead.

The Indians added a run in the third on a two-out Shin-Soo Choo double and a Ryan Garko single to left that scored Choo.

In the eighth, they’d strike for their fourth of the game.  Taking advantage of a lead-off Garko single, a Franklin Gutierrez walk, and a Sizemore single scoring Garko. 

The Blue Jays came the closest to getting to Lee in the fifth.  Stringing together a single and a bunt single, they had runners at first and second with nobody out when Cliff Lee helped himself out.  The Jays went to the bunt again, trying to advance the runners and Lee fielded it cleanly, throwing to third and picking off the lead runner. On the next batter, Lee got the inning-ending double play ground-out, keeping his shutout intact.

Rafael Perez continued his pitching dominance, striking out the side in a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

The Indians home Monday night to face a struggling Baltimore Oriole team.  Fausto Carmona (5-4, 4.46 ERA) pitches against Dennis Sarfate(4-2, 4.58 ERA).

Game time is 7:05.  Cleveland will play the next ten at home, the first four against the Orioles, three against the Angels, and three against Kansas City.

The Indians are 6-4 in their last ten, and 5-1 in the last six.  They are one game back of the Kansas City Royals for last place in the AL Central.  Cleveland is 52-64.  Kansas City is 54-64.  The White Sox lead the division by 13 games over the Indians at 65-51.

The Indians pulled off a sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays this weekend, but there was an  important sub-text going on.

Saturday Cleveland beat AL Cy Young candidate Roy Halladay, and Sunday, Cy Young frontrunner Cliff Lee notched his 16^th win of the season over the Blue Jays.

Halladay threw an incredible 130 pitches in the Saturday loss, surrendering four runs on ten hits; his record 13-9 on the season with a 2.72 ERA.  He lasted six and two thirds.

Sunday, Cliff Lee threw 104 pitches, allowing nary a run on eight hits; his record?  16-2 on the season with a 2.45 ERA.

So, is the AL Cy Young decided? 

Of course not, but in the grand scheme of things, you’d have to say Lee was the one gaining a step on Halladay.

Lee has roughly nine more starts left on the season and needs four wins to hit the 20 win mark.  It appears like he and Brandon Webb are the two pitchers that might eclipse twenty.

Football has started.  We’re done with the Tribe right?  The Indians win 5-2.  Call me whatever you want, but I am enjoying watching the Indians.  A lot.  You are too.  Admit it.  Have you stopped?  My suggestion?  Stick with it.  It’s fun.  It’s exciting.  I can’t wait for next year. 

The Indians haven’t been in a place where you are looking forward to next year for a while.  Usually, we are rooting for the current session.   Sure, you could say, YES we have.  2006 was bad.  It was.  This bullpen is worse, or not.  Yet………I’ve been there when the Indians were always in last place.   Thankfully, that was a while back.

Personally, I’m in a new place…… I’m excited.  Ok, ok I admit, it’s just like the old days this year.  Where else could you go but up.   But seriously, the Indians are on the move.

We expected greatness this year.   We did.   It didn’t happen.  Not even close.  But the Indians are fun to watch.  Not all year, but now…. With the new group.  Admit it… Its like NASCAR….. You watch, waiting for the wreck.

Anthony Reyes put up his first MLB start with the Indians as a win….. Times to come man, times to come.

I don’t judge the “V” on Reyes….. I think it’s on the team, but yet I’m optimistic about Reyes.  

While Reyes was hot in his first start : six and a third innings pitched, seven hits, and only run earned run, the real crux of the matter is the Indians seem to be adjusting into what I’d like to see as a team : and I LOVE it.

Rafael Perez, a staple in the Indians lefty organization, or organization as a whole for that matter, did his business again, going an inning and a third and giving up one run, unusual for him.   He’s usually lights out.  When he stinks, he’s great.  How can you beat that.  He is, and will be. Lights out seven and eight.

Jensen Lewis, a one inning wonder this evening, was moved to the closer, a PERFECT role for him.  Guess what?  One inning, 0 hits, 0 runs.  One B on B, but one K and TADA….. the Indians win.  Lewis has ALWAYS demonstrated closer potential.  Not lights out stuff like the big closers in the game, but he has the stuff that closers are made of.  He’s a fighter.  He is.  He did it once in the role.  Put him there again.  He’ll show you he’s the man.  He won’t be the best.  He won’t be dominant, but HE WILL WIN.  That is what he’s made of. 

Keep the faith Eric Wedge.  Let Lewis close.  He has the gumption.  Hand him the ball.  Let him win.

You did it.  You’re there.  Let Lewis blow it.  As Nike would say…. JUST DO IT.

Am I excited about the bullpen?  YES!! I am.  Screw football.  Well not really, but it has its place, and not in August.  Ok in August too.  BUT….

This year, I’m excited about the Tribe.

Exciting as it seems, I’m somewhat bummed that Lee won’t meet Halladay.  Two days ago, he would have.  The Indians called up Reyes, and he didn’t.  Bummer.  The Cy Young award was mano-a-mano.  Now?  I guess we’ll see by the starts, but it won’t be against each other.

It does give Lee a shot at 20 more than it did meeting up with Halladay, but Lee wipes Halladay off the map, and the Cy Young is his.  If it’s me?  I take that any day of the week.  Best against best.  I lose, I lose.  Let’s go.  But I do understand the mentality of not meeting up.   At least I guess.

Lee will win 20, and he’ll win the Cy Young.  He’ll be the only pitcher to 20, just watch and he’ll win.  By avoiding Halladay, he’ll be 16-2.  He would be anyway.  Should have kept the matchup. 

So much for my thoughts, lets head back to the game.

The Indians jumped on top 3-0 in the top of the fourth.  Kelly Shoppach opened up the inning after one out with a double.  After a Jhonny Peralta flyout, Ben Francisco doubled, scoring Shoppach.  Shin-Soo Choo doubled, scoring Shoppach.  Franklin Gutierrez joined in, scoring Choo for the third run of the inning. 

The Jays scored one back.  After an infield single and a regular single, Matt Stairs hit a single as well, and it was 3-1 Tribe. 

The Indians would score another pair in the eighth.  After a pair of walks to Carrol and Shoppach, Peralta struck out, giving the Indians two outs. 

Francisco would single home a run and move Shoppach to second, prompting a pitching change.   

Carleson came in, giving up a single and a run to Choo and Shoppach respectively, putting the Indians up 5-1.

The Jays would get a run back, on a double and a Mench pinch-hit single, but it wasn’t enough to chase down the Tribe.  

The Indians win, 5-2, and make chasing down the Royals a hope….. ar least for today…. Next year, thougb, looks extremely hopeful.

Jeremy Sowers now knows what its like to get some offensive run support.  Down 3-1 early, Cleveland accomplished something that has been rare this entire season.  The offense battled back and retook the lead for their starting pitcher.  Then familiarity kicked in.  The bullpen blew a 7-4 lead in the bottom of the ninth, and the Rays won 10-7.

The Tampa Bay Rays are certainly glad they will not see the likes of the Indians again this year.  Going 2-6 against a last place team has to be frustrating.  It was probably nice to end the season series on a positive note though.

Cleveland took an early 1-0 lead on a lead off home run.  No, it wasn’t Grady Sizemore, it was Franklin Gutierrez.  The Indians came out with a rare Gutierrez, Choo, Francisco combination in the outfield, giving Sizemore and many of the Indians starters a day off.

It didn’t seem to help Tampa out any, although it looked like it might early on.

Tampa Bay answered the Indian run in the first by scoring three right back, and taking a 3-1 advantage.  Sowers got the first hitter out, then allowed a single and a steal by Ben Zobrist.  Carlos Pena walked, and was thrown out at second when Tampa tried the double steal.  Zobrist ended up on third, and scored on an Evan Longoria single.  Gutierrez, Cleveland’s center fielder for the day, was credited with an error on the play allowing Longoria a free pass to third.  The two base advance didn’t make much of a difference however, because it doesn’t matter what base you are standing on when the guy batting hits a home run.  Navarro did just that, making the score 3-1 Tampa Bay.

The Indians would draw to within one on a solo shot from Jhonny Peralta in the top of the third.

They took the lead 5-3 with a three run fourth.  Jamey Carroll walked to open the frame.  After a Francisco strikeout, Peralta doubled, putting runners on second and third with one out.  Shin-Soo Choo delivered a single, driving in Carroll.  Peralta stopped at third.  Andy Marte doubled, scoring both Peralta and Choo.

The Rays got back to within one in the bottom half of the fourth on a Zobrist single that landed him on second base after the second Indians error of rhe afternoon.  Pena walked, and Longoria singled home Zobrist.  Sowers escaped with no further damage by inducing a Navarro ground-out.

Carroll and Peralta teamed up for another Indians run in the fifth, Carroll singling and Peralta doubling him home with two out. 

Rafael Perez relieved Sowers in the bottom of the seventh, and was stellar in relief once again.  He struck out four in two innings of relief, giving up one hit and no runs during his tenure on the mound.  Too bad he didn’t go three.

The Indians added an insurance run in the ninth.  Peralta singled to start the inning.  Choo hit into a fielders choice, erasing Peralta.  Choo then stole second, moved to third on a Marte groundout, and came home on a Troy Percival wild pitch.

On came Edwardo Mujica for the close. Mujica has been making a pitch for the closing position as the most consistant reliever beside Perez, at least until today.

A six run ninth by Tampa erased that wish.  Back-to-back doubles by Bartlett and Hinske accounted for the first Tampa run of the inning.  Gabe Gross added to the Mujica hit parade with a home run, and Mujica was yanked for Masa Kobayashi.

Kobayashi gave up an infield single to Iwamura, then walked Zobrist on four pitches, setting the stage for the game ending three run homerun by Pena.

If you’re a Tampa Bay fan, you went nuts.  If you’re an Indians fan, you just shook your head and thought what the Favre? 

Mujica got the blown save for his efforts.  Kobayashi got the loss.  Percival, despite surrendering a run in the ninth, earned the victory.

Rafael Betancourt probably sat on the bench thinking…. “Well, at least it wasn’t me this time”. 

Peralta went 5-for-5 with two RBI for the Indians.  Jason Bartlett was three-for-four for the Rays. 

Tampa Bay heads cross-country to Seattle for a Thursday nighter.  The Indians take Thursday off and retake the field on Friday against the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto. 

Paul Byrd (6-10, 4.72 ERA) faces off against David Purcey(1-2, 8.35 ERA).  Game time is 7:07.

Cleveland is 3-1 against the Blue Jays so far this year.  All four games were in Cleveland.  The Toronto series was part of an 8-2 streak for the Indians.  Those were the days eh?

The Tampa Bay Rays finally broke out of their losing streak with the Cleveland Indians, winning 8-4, the long ball playing a large role in stopping the 0-5 skid they’ve claimed this year as a record against the Indians.

All three of their home runs came in the seventh inning.  The first two came at the hands of Rafael Betancourt. He gave up a total of three runs in two-thirds of an inning.  Evan Longoria spanked a two run shot after Carlos Pena walked.  Cliff Floyd hit his over the right field fence on a 2-1 offering.  Juan Rincon relieved, surrendering the third homer of the inning to Dioner Navarro.

The home-runs put the Rays up 8-3, squelching any thought of a Tribe comeback.

Longoria’s home run set the rookie homer mark for the club.  It was his 22^nd of the season.

Fausto Carmona only lasted four in this one, giving up four runs on three hits, striking out four and walking five.  With a tight strike zone on the lower half of the plate, Carmona could not catch a break, and the five walks were his albatross on this particular evening.

The Indians and Rays each scored a run in the first, Cleveland on three singles by David Dellucci, Kelly Shoppach, and Shin-Soo Choo, scoring Dellucci; the Rays on an Akinon Iwamura triple, and a Pena sac-fly.

In the third, the Indians would go up 3-1.  With one out, Shoppach walked, and Jhonny Peralta delivered his 18^th home-run of the season and his 62^nd RBI, continuing his hitting hot streak. 

Carmona’s lack of command led to a three-run fourth for the Rays.  After walking the first two batters of the inning, Carmona struck out Hinske.  Floyd grounded out, but moved up both runners.  With two out, Navarro delivered a two-single, scoring both the earlier walks.  Gabe Gross then hit a triple, plating Navarro and getting his 23^rd RBI of the season.  Carmona issued another free pass prior to an Iwamura groundout that ended Fausto’s night.

After the three homer outburst in the seventh by Tampa and an 8-3 lead, the Indians did muster one more run in the eighth off an Andy Marte double and a Grady Sizemore RBI single.

That capped the scoring for both teams at 8-4. 

With the score 4-3 Tampa Bay, the Indians had numerous chances to tie and/or go ahead, but could not deliver on either occasion. 

In the top of the sixth, the Indians had the bases loaded with two out.  Ben Francisco came in to pinch hit for Dellucci, since Dellucci would have been a lefty- lefty matchup against Ray’s pitcher Howell.  Francisco drove one deep to left that appeared to be a grand slam at first glance, but was actually a running over-the-shoulder catch made by center fielder B.J. Upton. 

In the top of the seventh, the Indians had runners on the first and third with nobody out after a Shoppach walk and a Peralta single.  They could not push home a run, registering a strikeout and a pair of fly-outs to end that threat.

The Indians out hit Tampa Bay 12-10.  Dellucci, Peralta, and Franklin Gutierrez had two hits each.  Navarro led the way for the Rays with two hits and three RBI.

These two teams meet for the last time on Wednesday in an afternoon start.  Jeremy Sowers(1-6, 5.82 ERA) has his work cut out for him going up against Scott Kazmir(8-5, 2.89 ERA).  Game time is 12:10.

Cliff Lee may not have pitched one of his better games of the season, but he fought through it and still ended up picking up his 15^th win of the season in a 5-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Lee went seven innings, giving up eight hits and two runs, combined with two walks and a pair of strikeouts in the win. 

The Indians won their fifth straight against Tampa Bay and are 5-0 on the season versus the AL-East leading Rays. 

While Lee did not have his best stuff, Rafael Perez pitched two innings of lights-out ball, picking up the save and propelling Lee into a tie for the highest win total to date in the Majors with Arizona’s Brandon Webb.  Webb’s Diamond Backs sit atop the NL West at 58-54, while the Indians are mired in last place in the AL Central at 49-62, making Lee’s 15 almost a third of the Tribe’s total victories.

Lee didn’t look like a guy gunning for his fifteenth victory from the get-go.  He bailed himself out of a two-on one out situation in the first.  In the second, Tampa Bay loaded up the bases before Lee escaped with another zero, making his first two innings somewhat shaky.

Meanwhile, the Indians scored in the top of the second with Jhonny Peralta singling and Kelly Shoppach doubling him home, making it 1-0 Tribe.

In the third, Asdrubal Cabrera hit a 2-2 pitch from Matt Garza over the right field fence, making it 2-0.

Tampa Bay scored both their runs in the bottom of the fourth.  Willy Aybar opened the fifth with a single.  After a pair of fly-outs, Gabe Gross doubled to left, moving Aybar to third in the process.  Akinon Iwamura singled both runners home, tying up the game at two all.

The Indians matched the two run outburst with one of their own in the top of the fifth.  Franklin Gutierrez started the inning off with a single.  After a Cabrera strikeout and a Grady Sizemore fly-out, David Dellucci delivered a two-out home-run, his tenth on the season and second in the last two outings, staking the Indians to a 4-2 lead.

Lee struggled through the seventh, allowing a pair of singles from Iwamura and Upton.  Edwardo Mujica started warming up in the Indians bullpen, but Lee got himself out of the jam with a popout, a flyout, and a groundout, preserving the lead. 

The Indians added an insurance run in the top of the eighth when Peralta drew a free pass, stole second, and moved over to third on the throwing error by catcher Navarro.  Shoppach singled him home.

Rafael Perez entered in the eighth, striking out two and not allowing a hit in two innings of relief.  He picked up his second save of the season.

The Indians and Rays meet for the second of their three game series on Tuesday with a 7:10 game time..  Fausto Carmona (5-3, 4.19 ERA) goes up against Edwin Jackson (7-7, 4.20 ERA). 

In addition to last season’s Tommy John surgery, it appeared all that Francisco Lariano needed was a good dose of ‘Tribe offense”.  Lariano came into Sundays’ game with an 11.32 ERA and no wins, and he exited with his first win of the season and a 7.16 ERA.  The Minnesota Twins won two of their three-game set with the Indians with a 6-2 Sunday victory.

Matt Ginter was cruising along for the Indians without any run support, but ended up stumbling in the fifth and again in the sixth, allowing a total of five runs on five hits with three strikeouts and a walk.

The Twins got on the board first with a one-out Brendan Harris home-run (6^th) in the third inning. 

They’d add a pair in the fifth and sixth. 

In the fifth, Jason Kubel led off the inning with a walk, scoring on a Mike Lamb triple to right.  Brian Buscher singled, scoring Lamb. 

In the sixth, they’d tack on another two runs, one of those again via the triple.  Denard Span started off the inning with a bunt single.  Nick Punto tripled him home.  Justin Morneau was intentionally walked, but Ginter threw a wild pitch, allowing Punto to score. 

Both starting pitchers did not return for the seventh.  The Twins brought in Crain, and he gave up a single to Franklin Gutierrez.  After a pair of Indians strikeouts, Grady Sizemore delivered an RBI double for the Indians first run of the night. 

The Indians second run of the afternoon came in the eighth on a Ben Francisco homer to left. 

Span homered for the Twins in the bottom half of the eighth off Juan Rincon, rounding out the scoring.

The Indians head off to Tampa with the Rays looking for revenge.  Last time these two played was right before the All-Star break, with the Indians winning all four games. 

Cliff Lee(14-2, 2.58 ERA) pitches against Tampa’s Matt Garza (9-6, 3.56 ERA).  Game time is 7:10.

The Indians beat Minnesota Saturday evening in Minnesota behind yet another strong outing by Paul Byrd.  Byrd, the topic of trade conversations prior to the MLB trade deadline, is now 3-0 in his last three starts.  Amazing what a new ball glove will do.  Well, maybe it was more than that.

Byrd pitched seven strong innings, allowing six hits and one run.  He picks up the victory.  The Indians registered five runs on seven hits, three of the hits by David Dellucci, in victory.  He also accounted for two RBI’s as did Shoppach.  Jhonny Peralta continued his RBI antics, picking up the fifth and final RBI.

The Twins started the scoring by jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the third.  Back-to-back-to-back bunts by Gomez, Span, and the sac-bunt by Punto put runners on second and third with one out.  Joe Mauer walked, loading them up.  Jason Morneau sacrificed flied to center, scoring Gomez.  Kubel flied out, ending the scoring threat.

In the top of the fourth, the Indians took the lead.  Dellucci doubled, and Peralta doubled one batter later, driving in Dellucci.  With two out, Kelly Shoppach, homered over the right field fence, giving Indians a 3-1 lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Indians would benefit from the long-ball again.  Cabrera doubled to right, and Dellucci homered, making it 5-1 Tribe.

Byrd mastered Twins hitters through seven, and Rafael Perez closed out the game with two innings of no-hit ball.

The rubber match of the series is Sunday afternoon.  Matt Ginter (1-2, 4.20 ERA) pitches against Francisco Lariano (0-3, 11.32 ERA).  Gametime is 2:10.

Minnesota stayed a half-game back in the AL Central since the division leading Chicago White Sox also lost.