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Carmona aims to give Indians third straight win over A's

Jun 27, 2007 - 3:13 PM Oakland (39-37) at Cleveland (45-31) 7:05 pm EDT

CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- After winning the first two games, the Cleveland Indians look to clinch a win in the third game of a four-game series on Wednesday against the Oakland Athletics at Jacobs Field.

Fausto Carmona (8-3, 3.21 ERA), who has alternated wins and losses in his last four starts after winning his previous six decisions, looks to avoid losing consecutive starts for the first time this season.

Against the Athletics, Carmona is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in two starts and one career relief appearance, with the lone decision coming in a 6-3 win on May 12 at Oakland.

In a 4-1 loss to the Nationals on Friday, the righthander allowed three runs and a season high-tying 10 hits over six frames.

Oakland will send Lenny DiNardo (2-4, 2.35) to the mound. In his first 14 appearances as a starter or reliever, he did not allow more than one earned run. However in his last two outings, he has surrendered seven earned runs en route to losing both starts. In a 9-1 loss to the New York Mets on Friday, the lefthander yielded six runs - two earned - and seven hits over 5 1/3 innings.

In four lifetime relief appearances against Cleveland, DiNardo carries a 2.84 ERA and has not factored into a decision.