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Hafner's late blast lifts Indians over Angels

Apr 12, 2007 - 11:02 PM MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- Travis Hafner blasted the Cleveland Indians to a thrilling win in their home away from home.

Hafner crushed a three-run homer in the eighth inning to lift the Indians to a 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

The mammoth homer provided an exciting capper to this bizarre three-game series, which was played at Milwaukee's Miller Field. Major League Baseball relocated the series Monday after a weekend of winter weather wiped out Cleveland's four-game home set against Seattle.

"We just wanted to play baseball, just to have a place to play where we could get some games in," Hafner said. "The crowd was a huge bonus. The atmosphere they provided and the way they were into the games was great. It was a lot of fun coming here actually. It by far exceeded our expectations. It says a lot about the city."

After managing just one run in a loss Wednesday, the Indians struggled offensively in Thursday's rubber game and entered the eighth inning trailing, 2-1.

But Grady Sizemore and Trot Nixon opened the frame with back-to-back walks off righthander Scot Shields (0-1) to set the stage for Hafner, who entered the contest with just one RBI.

The 240-pound Hafner gave Cleveland a 4-2 lead by launching Shields' 1-0 pitch well over the wall in right-center field for his first homer of the campaign.

"I was pumped up," Hafner said. "It was a big situation in the game. That's why you play the game, to come through in these situations."

"It was a great time for him to get into one like that," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "There were two great at-bats before he came up, and it was great to see Travis come through."

The normally reliable Shields admitted he struggled with his command against the first two batters in the inning and did not want to make the same mistake to Hafner.

"I wasn't able to throw strikes and with this lineup, especially with (Hafner), you walk the first two guys, it's not a spot you want to be in," Shields said. "I fell behind on Travis and I had to challenge him. I couldn't go 2-0 and load the bases."

"(Shields) backed himself into a little bit of a corner to say the least," Angels manager Mike Scioscia added. "He walked the first two guys and then missed the first pitch to Travis. He's a dangerous hitter, and you saw what happened."

Lefthander Aaron Fultz (2-0) recorded the final out of the eighth inning and Joe Borowski worked a round a two-out walk in the ninth to notch his third save.

"(Hafner) hit it right over my head," Borowski said. "I said, 'Sweet, time to get ready.' I've felt better every time I've gone out there."

Cleveland starter Jeremy Sowers was outstanding, yielding one run, six hits and no walks with three strikeouts in seven innings.

"I thought I threw well," said Sowers, who threw 65 of his 102 pitches for strikes. "I didn't walk anybody and was able to keep my pitch count low and had the opportunity to come back out for the seventh."

Sizemore belted his fourth homer for the Indians, who are scheduled to return to Cleveland on Friday for the opener of a three-game series with the Chicago White Sox.

"It's time to get back home," Wedge said. "Milwaukee has been fantastic for us, and we really appreciate everything. I really appreciate the hospitality here, but now we're looking very forward to getting back home, getting back to Jacobs Field in front of our fans."

Anaheim took a 2-1 lead in the top of the eighth thanks to some sloppy defense by Cleveland, which committed two errors in the frame. Orlando Cabrera reached on a one-out infield hit and advanced to second on the play on third baseman Casey Blake's throwing error.

Vladimir Guerrero was intentionally walked but was forced out at second on Garret Anderson's grounder to first baseman Ryan Garko.

Cleveland attempted to complete the inning-ending double play, but pitcher Roberto Hernandez dropped the return throw to first, allowing Cabrera to score the go-ahead run.

Anaheim righthander Dustin Moseley looked sharp in his second start of the season, allowing one run and five hits in six frames. The 25-year-old walked two and struck out three in just his fourth career start.

Cabrera had three hits and scored both of the Angels' runs while Guerrero had two hits, including an RBI single in the sixth.