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Dellucci blasts Indians past Marlins in wild affair

Jun 14, 2007 - 4:55 AM MIAMI (Ticker) -- David Dellucci's three-run home run capped a wild six-run sixth inning as the Cleveland Indians snapped a modest three-game skid with a 7-3 victory over the Florida Marlins on Wednesday.

Dellucci's blast directly followed a bizarre series of events which resulted in a trio of Marlins being ejected.

Despite it all, Dellucci just shook his head after the win.

"I've seen some crazy things, but I've learned over the years that you've never seen it all," Dellucci said.

With both teams previously being issued warnings by home plate umpire Brian Knight, Florida relief pitcher Taylor Tankersley hit Grady Sizemore with a pitch. A heated conversation ensued and resulted in Tankersley, first baseman Aaron Boone and Florida manager Fredi Gonzalez being ejected.

Tankersley didn't agree with Knight's assessment.

"I'm not throwing at anybody," he said. "I got ahead of (Sizemore) 0-2. I wanted to back him off the dish, rush him up and in, then go back down and away, but it got away from me. I tried to talk to the guy behind the plate but he didn't really want to listen."

Gonzalez said that he knew he was getting ejected even before it happened.

"When you get warnings and somebody gets hit (by a pitch), it's automatic, the manager goes," he said. "I know I've only managed 60 games, and I've been thrown out twice and suspended once. That's not a good reputation to have."

The action that preceded this was just as wild.

With Florida leading, 3-0, Cleveland managed to get on the board courtesy of an error by second baseman Dan Uggla. Uggla extended his body to make a diving stop on a liner from Trot Nixon, but from his knees, he misfired to first, allowing Jhonny Peralta and Travis Hafner to score.

The next batter, rookie Mike Rouse, lofted a catchable fly ball that was dropped by Florida right fielder Jeremy Hermida, putting runners on second and third. Pinch hitter Ryan Garko grounded out, plating Nixon to tie the game at 3-3.

Byung-Hyun Kim (3-3) took the loss after allowing four runs on four hits in 5 2/3 innings, but he did record a season-high eight strikeouts.

After Tankersley hit Sizemore and was ejected, Lee Gardner served up the home run to Dellucci before finishing the inning.

The sixth-inning rally made a winner of Indians lefthander Cliff Lee (3-4), who allowed three runs on six hits in five innings. The lefthander, who snapped a personal four-game losing skid, hadn't recorded a win since May 18 against the Reds.

"I was a little erratic in the first, I wasn't locating well," Lee said. "I walked a couple of guys. ... I started locating better (after the first). I was using all my pitches. I'm really pleased with how it went after the first.

"There were some strange things going on, but the bottom line is we won. That's all that matters."

Tom Mastny allowed two hits while Rafael Betancourt and Joe Borowski were flawless in relief for Cleveland.

"We put ourselves in a position to come back, put ourselves in a position to take the lead and guys took advantage of it," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "Dellucci got the big hit for us."

It didn't look like it was going to be this difficult for Florida, which scored three runs in the first. Hanley Ramirez's two-run double to left-center plated Uggla and Reggie Abercrombie. Ramirez came around to score after Josh Willingham grounded into a double play.

Cleveland's Casey Blake extended his hitting streak to 22 games with a single in the third inning.