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Indians hammer Rays, snap 10-game skid

Jul 11, 2008 - 3:18 AM By Todd Krepop PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- David Dellucci's home run may have only tied the game, but it allowed the Cleveland Indians to do something they haven't done in awhile - relax.

Dellucci homered and drove in three runs and Ben Francisco also homered had a career-high four RBI as the Indians defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 13-2, on Thursday to snap their 10-game losing streak.

The loss extended Tampa Bay's losing streak to four-games - matching a season high. The Rays, who also lost four in a row April 6-9, saw their lead in the American League East cut to 1 1/2 games over the idle Boston Red Sox.

Suffering from their longest losing streak since June 1979, the Indians found themselves trailing, 2-0, entering the fifth. But as starter Aaron Laffey said, "It felt like 10-0."

That is the way things have been going for Cleveland, who traded their ace, CC Sabathia, to Milwaukee on Monday and stumbled home Wednesday night after blowing a 6-0 lead in an 8-6 loss to the Detroit Tigers to cap a winless eight-game road trip.

However after a one-out single in the fifth by Kelly Shoppach, Dellucci drove Andy Sonnanstine's 3-2 pitch over the wall in right-center to tie the game at 2-2.

"It was huge for all of us," Dellucci said. "We were able to relax and go to the plate with confidence."

Andy Marte and Grady Sizemore followed with consecutive singles before Jamey Carroll gave the Indians a 3-2 lead when he bounced into a fielder's choice groundout. Francisco followed with a two-run shot to right on an 0-2 pitch by Sonnanstine.

"That was big," said Casey Blake of Dellucci's home run. "If he doesn't hit that, who knows what would have happened. That was huge."

Shin-Soo Choo extended the lead with a solo home run off Sonnanstine in the sixth, and Cleveland took out some more frustration as they scored seven more runs in the eighth off reliever Gary Glover.

Blake started the scoring in the eighth with a solo home run and finished it with a two-run single. Dellucci drove in a run on a single and Francisco added a two-run single during the outburst.

"The guys did a good job," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "We had some real good at-bats tonight."

Laffey (5-5) yielded two runs on four hits in six solid innings to pick up his first win since June 12. The rookie lefthander struck out four batters.

"I was able to command the ball on both sides of the plate," Laffey said. "I was able to throw my sinker on the plate and it let it work."

Sonnanstine (10-4) yielded six runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings. The righthander saw his four-game winning streak snapped as he lost for the first time since May 27.

"This one is real frustrating for a number of reasons," said Sonnanstine, who went to college at nearby Kent State. "We'd lost the last (three) and I look at myself as a stopper. I had a lot of family and friends in the stands. To get beat up like this in a blowout, it's not a good feeling."

Jonny Gomes' two-run homer in the third gave Tampa Bay an early lead, but that wasn't enough to prevent the Rays from their 10th consecutive loss in Cleveland.

"We're getting into swinging for the five-run homer instead of playing offense," Rays' manager Joe Maddon said. "We're not getting enough runners on base. I believe everybody is trying to hit the ball out of the ballpark. We have to get away from that."