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Indians jump out early, hold off Royals

Apr 25, 2008 - 3:12 AM By Alan Eskew PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) - All the Cleveland Indians needed to get out of a slump was to face the Kansas City Royals' pitching.

Grady Sizemore stroked four hits, including a home run, as the Indians pounded out 15 hits en route to a 9-6 victory in the opener of a doubleheader against the Royals on Thursday.

Victor Martinez contributed three hits while Jason Michaels and Casey Blake - the Nos. 8 and 9 hitters - each had two hits and two RBIs for Cleveland, which came to Kansas City hitting an American League-worst .235 and with the worst slugging percentage, .352.

"This lineup is a good lineup," Blake said. "It doesn't matter who's hitting eighth or ninth. It's not like it is Little League. It's just a matter of getting somebody to hit and doing something with it. And once again, it's not only getting on base, but coming up with the big hit and keeping the inning going."

The Indians have scored 24 runs in winning the first two games of a three-game set against the Royals, who have dropped six straight and have been outscored, 55-18, in the skid.

"We had good at-bats, a strong approach," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "You could feel the type of game we were in. They needed to keep it going and they did. We've got to do it up and down the lineup. You can't count on one or two guys."

Fausto Carmona (3-1) was the benefactor of the Indians' offensive splurge. While Carmona was not particularly sharp - allowing four runs on nine hits and four walks in five innings - he picked up his third victory and moved to 4-0 in his past six starts against the Royals dating to last year.

"He battled," Wedge said. "He didn't quite have the command you saw in his last start, but I still felt like he did a good job of working to make adjustments when he needed to. They did a good job of making him work but he never gave in to them."

"I was getting behind in the count and was trying to come back in the middle of the plate and they were ready for me," Carmona said through an interpreter.

The Indians batted around in a four-run fourth, which was highlighted by Michaels' two-run single and Ben Francisco's run-producing double. One run was unearned after third baseman Alex Gordon failed to handle Ryan Garko's grounder.

Royals right-hander Brett Tomko (1-3) needed 108 pitches to make it through four innings before being replaced by Yasuhiko Yabuta. Tomko faced 25 batters and allowed 14 to reach base - 11 hits, two walks and one error.

Tomko was charged with seven runs - six earned - and took the loss. He left with the Royals trailing, 7-2.

"Anytime you throw close to 100 pitches in four innings, that's not a good thing," Tomko said. "I didn't feel any different than I did in my first three games. I didn't feel I had control of the game, control of the count. I felt like I was backed in a corner. They put the heat on me.

"The way the game started off, I put us in a hole and our hitters battled back. I'm disappointed I didn't do more to keep the game closer. The game got out of hand quick."

Blake suggested that making Tomko throw a lot of pitches was a factor for the productive Cleveland offense.

"It seems like that's the key for us all the time," Blake said. "He's got good stuff, but I think we had a pretty good approach against him."

DeJesus led off the third with his first home run, and Miguel Olivo homered in the seventh with Gordon aboard off lefthander Rafael Perez to pull the Royals within 9-6. The six runs matched the Royals' season high.

"We started off on the wrong foot," Kansas City manager Trey Hillman said. "It's good to see us put some runs on the board. We couldn't stop the bleeding. We got in a situation where we had to stick with him (Tomko) for a little while."

The Royals had to use only two relievers after Tomko's early departure, so Hillman said he felt good on how his bullpen shaped up for the second game.

"But I don't ever feel too good after losing a game," Hillman said.

Masa Kobayashi retired pinch hitter Jose Guillen on a grounder to first with two runners on base to end the seventh.

"He came in and got out a tough hitter out in Guillen," Wedge said.

Rafael Betancourt, who inherited the closing job with Joe Borowski on the disabled list, worked the ninth for his first save.

The Indians have won 11 of their past 14 games against the Royals.