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Indians defeat Devil Rays for seventh consecutive time

Aug 19, 2007 - 3:21 AM By Brett McMurphy PA Sportsticker Contributing Writer

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- Jake Westbrook helped the Cleveland Indians continue their dominance over Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Saturday.

Westbrook pitched seven strong innings as the Indians belted out 15 hits en route to an 8-1 victory over the Devil Rays.

Asdrubal Cabrera and Grady Sizemore each had two hits and a home run for Indians, who defeated the Devil Rays for the seventh consecutive time and 14th out of their last 15 meetings dating back to last season.

"They're never easy," Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said. "Tampa Bay's an explosive team. We don't assume anything. We anticipate it's going to a be a tough game, and there have been a lot of tight ones."

Westbrook (4-7), who won for the third time in his last four starts, did not allow a hit until Carl Crawford singled with one out in the fourth. Backed by two double plays, the 29-year-old sinkerballer faced the minimum through 6 2/3 innings before allowing a walk to B.J. Upton and an RBI double to Carlos Pena.

Westbrook, who entered with a 7.01 ERA away from Jacobs Field, yielded just two hits and two walks with four strikeouts.

After struggling to just one win through the first four months of the season, a span of 13 starts, the righthander is 3-1 with a 1.93 ERA in August.

"I feel I pitched well, the defense behind me played great," Westbrook said. "I was getting ahead in the count and pitching to contact. Every win counts and every win is a big one."

Cabrera hit his first major league home run off Devil Rays starter Jason Hammel (1-3) in the second inning to give the Indians an early 3-0 advantage.

"That's my job," Cabrera said. "I'm glad to help my team. I was waiting for that pitch."

Cabrera's three-run homer was more than enough offense against a Devil Rays team that was limited to one run or less for the fifth time in their last six games.

"All I can say is, that happens sometimes," Crawford said. "It's late August, maybe guys are a little tired right now. Westbrook kept the ball down tonight real good. We're just waiting to catch that second wind."

Sizemore added a solo shot in the fifth to extend Cleveland's lead to 4-0.

Aside from his three-run home run, Cabrera, who had his first major league RBI Friday, had a double and scored two runs.

Lofton had an RBI single in the sixth and Ryan Garko drove a double off the wall in right to give the Indians a 6-0 lead in the seventh inning.

Casey Blake had a two-run single in the eighth frame to cap the scoring.

Hammel surrendered four runs and eight hits over five innings to remain winless in the first 15 career starts.

"If you're going to get beat, get beat throwing in the zone," Hammel said. "Half an inch here, half an inch there can make a difference."

With their third consecutive win, the Indians moved 1 1/2 games ahead of Detroit in the American League Central race. During its current winning streak, Cleveland allowed just five runs.

The Devil Rays fell a season-worst 30 games below .500.

"Since (playing) Detroit, we haven't been doing very well," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "I like the effort, we're just not hitting right now. We've run into a stretch where we're facing good pitching. But that's no excuse."