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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Indians' Blake pounds Rangers

Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Indians third baseman Casey Blake fields a ground ball in the bottom of the third inning in a baseball game against the Rangers.

DAVID PELLERIN | Associated Press

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ARLINGTON, Texas — Casey Blake's early power surge got the Cleveland Indians off to a big lead.

They still needed more to outlast the Texas Rangers.

Blake hit two homers, a bases-loaded double and had already matched a career-high seven RBIs, the most by an American League player this season, by the fourth inning. But Cleveland needed a tiebreaking two-run homer in the seventh from Ben Francisco, before David Dellucci added another two-run shot, for a 13-9 victory last night.

"You could feel it," manager Eric Wedge said. "We knew we would have to keep scoring, keep taking advantage of opportunities."

Blake hit two-run homers in the second and third innings, then added a three-run double in the fourth that made it 8-3.

"I didn't feel great," Blake said of his homer in the second off Doug Mathis. "It's one of those things. He hung a slider, I went with it and it got in the jet stream. ... That just gives you confidence."

Josh Hamilton homered in his third straight game for Texas. The two-run shot was his AL-best 16th and increased his majors-leading RBI total to 65 in his 58 games.

Orioles 6, Red Sox 3: Adam Jones broke a tie with a three-run double in the eighth inning, and Baltimore overcame another home run by Manny Ramirez, the 502nd of his career, to beat visiting Boston, avoiding a four-game sweep. Meanwhile, Boston designated hitter David Ortiz will be placed on the 15-day disabled list with a partially torn tendon in his left wrist, manager Terry Francona said. Surgery is "very unlikely," Francona said.

Twins 6, Yankees 5: Delmon Young had three doubles and three RBIs, and Joe Mauer hit his long-awaited first homer of the season to lead host Minnesota past New York. Young gave the Twins the lead for good with another two-bagger off Kyle Farnsworth (0-2) that scored Michael Cuddyer in the eighth.

Angels 4, Mariners 2: Ervin Santana (8-2) gave up two runs in 7 2/3 innings to lead Los Angeles past host Seattle. He gave up six hits and struck out three. Casey Kotchman ripped three singles, Robb Quinlan had a pair of base hits and an RBI for the Angels.

Athletics 3, Tigers 2: Bobby Crosby hit an RBI single in the ninth inning to lift host Oakland over Detroit. Kurt Suzuki led off the ninth with a sharp single off Francisco Cruceta (0-3) and went to second on a sacrifice. He scored easily as Crosby's hit traveled to the wall in right-center field.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Phillies 5, Reds 4: Ken Griffey Jr. remained one shy of 600 home runs after getting the night off, but Philadelphia's Chase Utley hit his major league-leading 21st homer to help host Philadelphia beat Cincinnati. Utley went deep for the fifth straight game, tying a club record he shares with Dick Allen, Mike Schmidt and Bobby Abreu.

Braves 7, Marlins 5: John Smoltz, pitching in relief for the first time since 2004, allowed two runs in the ninth to blow a save in his return to the mound as a closer, but Yunel Escobar picked him up with the first game-ending homer of his career, a two-run shot in the 10th inning to lift host Atlanta over Florida.

Pirates 5, Cardinals 4: Jason Michaels hit a tying pinch-hit grand slam in the seventh and Jason Bay drove in the winning run an inning later as Pittsburgh rallied past host St. Louis. Michaels, batting for Raul Chavez, hit his first home run of the season on the first pitch he saw from starter Adam Wainwright (5-3).

Brewers 4, Diamondbacks 3: Prince Fielder homered to lead off the eighth and helped scratch across another run with an unlikely steal of third to lift host Milwaukee over Arizona. Fielder, who went 3-for-4, drove a fastball by Arizona reliever Doug Slaten (0-2) deep to left-center field to give Milwaukee its first lead, 4-3.

Cubs 7, Padres 6: Carlos Zambrano helped Chicago to its eighth straight win with a victory over host San Diego. Zambrano (8-1) allowed three runs in the first inning before settling down. He legged out three hits to tie his career-high and raise his average to .366.

Dodgers 8, Rockies 2: Jeff Kent, Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp hit home runs, and Derek Lowe pitched eight strong innings as host Los Angeles handed Colorado its eighth straight loss. Lowe (3-5) allowed a run on five hits, struck out three and walked one.

Giants 10, Mets 2: Brian Horwitz hit the first home run of his career with a two-run shot in the Giants' six-run first and Ray Durham also drove in three runs to help host San Francisco beat New York.