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Carmona solid again as Indians beat Braves

Jun 17, 2007 - 9:52 PM CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Fausto Carmona returned to his winning ways.

Carmona allowed two runs in seven innings as the Cleveland Indians defeated the Atlanta Braves, 5-2, on Sunday, to avoid a three-game sweep.

The Indians righthander was dominant through the first seven innings as he allowed only three runners to reach second base.

"It was another great performance by Fausto," Wedge said. "He was in command throughout. Obviously he slowed down in the eighth."

Carmona is 8-1 with a 2.62 in his last 11 starts and is now 6-0 in day games.

"I am very happy to win again," Carmona said through a translator. "I am just trying to get better and better with each game."

"Carmona was pretty good," Braved designate hitter Chipper Jones said. "He has a bright future. I was really impressed with him."

But Carmona (8-2), who had his seven-game winning streak snapped in his last start against the Florida Marlins, ran into trouble in the eighth, allowing a home run to Scott Thorman to lead off the eighth. He then walked rookie Yunel Escobar and Kelly Johnson, prompting Indians manger Eric Wedge to go to his bullpen.

Willie Harris greeted reliever Rafael Betancourt with an RBI double down the right field line to trim the Indians' lead to 5-2. But Betancourt settled down as he allowed only the one run, with some help from Jason Michaels' glove.

With runners on second and third and one out, Chipper Jones, who in the first inning knocked a single for his 2,000th career hit, hit a line drive to left field. Michaels came racing in and made a diving catch preventing a run from scoring.

"We moved our outfield a little more to the opposite side," Michaels said. "In that situation I knew I had to have it if I were I going to dive for it. I knew I was going to catch it, but I knew I was going to have to dive for it."

Betancourt ended the inning by striking out Andruw Jones.

"Raffy pitched great against the toughest part of their lineup," Wedge said.

Closer Joe Borowski retired Kelly Johnson with runners on second and third in the ninth to pick up his 20th save in 22 opportunities this season.

Chipper Jones singled off of Carmona in the second inning for his 2,000th hit of his career.

"It's a pretty cool number," said the 13-year veteran. "It's one of the numbers you reach when you've been around a long time. My next goal is to work on the next 1,000, but I don't know if I'll play that long."

The Indians broke open the game with a four-run sixth inning, with some help from the Braves defense.

Leading, 1-0, Victor Martinez led off the inning with a single off of Atlanta starter Kyle Davies. Jhonny Peralta followed with a double to right and Martinez and Peralta both scored when Ryan Garko's grounder went through the arm of first baseman Thorman for a two-base error.

"We were able to use that error to propel us," Michaels said.

"It was a tough hop," Thorman said. "It really (stinks) because Kyle pitched well and it was the deciding play of the game. I wish I had it back."

Franklin Gutierrez made it 4-0 with an RBI single off of Davies, ending the Atlanta righthander's outing.

After the pitching change, Gutierrez stole second and advanced to third on catcher Brian McCann's throwing error and Josh Barfield followed with an RBI groundout.

"It takes days like today to work back in the right direction," Wedge said. "You put a big inning together like that, you catch a few breaks and that's what starts to push you in the right direction."

Davies (3-6) finished allowing five runs, but only three were earned in 5 1/3 innings. Davies, who had allowed 10 runs in his last two starts, looked better in the first four innings, as he held the Indians to one hit before Cleveland broke through in the fifth.

Trot Nixon led off the inning with a walk and Gutierrez followed with a bunt single. After a failed sacrifice attempt by Barfield and Grady Sizemore's flyout, Michaels stroked a single to center giving the Indians the lead.

"I'm happy with the way I pitched, but I didn't make as many good pitches as their guy did," Davies said. "I feel like I'm getting better. I'm throwing strikes and keeping the ball down in the zone."

Cleveland third baseman Casey Blake extended his hitting streak to 26 games with a first-inning single. The streak is the longest in the majors this season and the longest by an Indian since Sandy Alomar had a 30-game hit streak in 1997.