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BASEBALL
: Tribe crown Angels
Anaheim, CA - Andy Marte and Jhonny Peralta each clubbed a
solo home run and Casey Blake added a two-run shot, as the Cleveland Indians
downed Los Angeles, 5-2, in the opener of a three-game set.
Paul Byrd (4-10) allowed one run on nine hits and struck out five over 5 1/3
innings to pick up his first win since June 6 at Detroit. Byrd had lost each
of his last five decisions. Rafael Perez gave up one run in 2 2/3 innings of
relief and Masahide Kobayashi struck out the side in the ninth to notch his
sixth save.
"Our defense made some big plays behind me," Byrd said. "Every inning was a
battle. Nothing was easy. I flirted with disaster, but came out on top."
Grady Sizemore doubled and scored a run for Cleveland, which has won three in
a row and seven of eight overall.
Ervin Santana (11-4) surrendered four runs -- three earned -- on seven hits
and fanned eight over seven frames to absorb the loss for the Angels. The 25-
year-old right-hander fell to 0-6 in seven lifetime starts against the
Indians.
Howie Kendrick finished 3-for-4 with a solo home run for Los Angeles, which
snapped a five-game winning streak.
"We had many missed opportunities," Los Angeles center fielder Torii Hunter
said. "You have to tip you hat to Paul Byrd. We had a lot of runners in
scoring position, but he bared down and hit his spots."
Cleveland opened the scoring in the top of the second when Peralta reached
second on Gary Matthews Jr's fielding error, took third on a wild pitch and
scored on a David Dellucci sacrifice fly.
The Angels countered with a run in the second. Garret Anderson ripped a lead-
off double and later came home on Jeff Mathis' RBI single.
A two-out blast to left from Marte in the fourth restored the lead for the
visitors, and the Tribe tacked on two more runs in the fifth on Blake's 11th
home run of the season, a one-out smash to left that followed a double by
Sizemore.
The Indians extended their lead further when, with one away in the top of the
eighth, Peralta went deep for the 17th time this year. LA got the run back in
the next frame on Kendrick's two-out shot to center, but Kobayashi sewed up
the game for Cleveland with a strong final frame.
Game Notes
Peralta has hit safely in 11 straight games...The Indians have won three
straight on the road after dropping their previous 10 road affairs...Cleveland
has homered in eight straight games...The Angels left nine men on base, while
Cleveland stranded five...Cleveland's Matt Ginter (1-0) and LA's Jered Weaver
(8-8) are scheduled to start on Tuesday.
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