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Grand slam carries Padres past Indians

Jun 15, 2008 - 3:42 AM By Todd Krepop PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Kevin Kouzmanoff came back to hurt the team that drafted him.

Kouzmanoff's grand slam capped a five-run 10th inning as the San Diego Padres rallied to defeat the Cleveland Indians, 8-3, on Saturday night.

The Padres' third baseman was drafted by the Indians in the sixth round in 2003. Kouzmanoff made his major league debut on September 2, 2006, against Texas with the Indians and became the first player in the history of baseball to hit the first pitch he saw for a grand slam.

But with former top prospect Andy Marte blocking his path to being an everyday third baseman, Cleveland traded Kouzmanoff for second baseman Josh Barfield prior to the 2007 season. Despite the trade, Kouzmanoff said he didn't feel any redemption by hitting the grand slam on Saturday.

"I wasn't out there trying to get payback," Kouzmanoff said. "(Cleveland) drafted me and gave me a shot. I have no negative feelings and I don't hold any grudges for them making a business decision."

Kouzmanoff blasted Edward Mujica's 1-1 offering into the left field stands after Tony Clark had drawn a walk to bring in the go-ahead run.

"I was just thinking about getting a good pitch to hit and put a good swing on the ball," Kouzmanoff said.

Edgar Gonzalez singled to left with one out and Brian Giles followed with a double down the right field line. Mujica (0-1) intentionally walked Adrian Gonzalez, but the move didn't work as planned.

Mujica quickly got ahead of Clark 0-2, but couldn't finish off the veteran, who drew a nine-pitch walk.

"(Clark) fouled some pitches and laid off a couple of sliders," San Diego manager Bud Black said. "It was a very good at-bat and the key to the inning."

Mujica thought he had struck out Clark on a 2-2 pitch that was called a ball by home plate umpire Rob Drake.

"I threw a fastball that was in at the knees," Mujica said. "It was a pretty good pitch and I think the umpire missed (the call)."

Heath Bell (4-3) pitched two scoreless innings to pick up the win as San Diego pitching retired 25 of the last 27 Indians' batters to give the offense a chance to come back.

Jody Gerut's solo home run in the eighth tied the game at 3-3. Gerut blasted Rafael Perez's 0-1 offering over the right field wall for his third home run of the season.

The home run cost Cliff Lee a chance to become the first pitcher to 11 wins in the American League. Lee yielded two runs on eight hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out six but let the Padres get back into the game.

"Cliff did a good job tonight," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "He gave us every chance to win the game tonight. I thought he pitched a pretty good ballgame."

Padres starter Cha Seung Baek started the turnaround for the Padres after it looked like he wouldn't make it out of the first inning. Cleveland touched the South Korean for three runs, but Beak settled down and retired 20 of the last 21 batters he faced, including the last 16 in a row.

"We started Cha Seung in the first and Seung Baek in the second," Black joked. "The important thing was he got out of the first. He knuckled down and started throwing early count strikes and located his fastball."

Trailing 3-0, San Diego cut into the Indians' lead on a solo home run by Justin Huber in the third and an RBI single by Gerut in the fifth.