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Martinez, Sizemore help Indians snap skid

Jul 7, 2007 - 11:05 PM TORONTO (Ticker) -- A pair of All-Stars helped the Cleveland Indians avoid their longest losing streak of the season.

Victor Martinez and Grady Sizemore each had a solo home run and a double as the Indians clubbed four homers en route to a 9-4 triumph over the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday afternoon.

Cleveland entered the contest mired in a three-game skid, its fourth such slide of the season. But the Indians pounded out 14 hits Saturday to improve to 2-3 on their six-game road trip.

A reserve on the American League All-Star squad, Martinez has been Cleveland's best hitter this season, leading the team in batting average (.328), homers (16) and RBI (68).

"I've just been putting good at-bats together all season," Martinez said. "You never can take anything for granted in this game, but I'm happy with my performance so far."

Martinez helped get Cleveland on the board in the first inning, when he ripped a long two-out double off Toronto righthander Shaun Marcum (4-3) and scored on Travis Hafner's two-base hit. The switch-hitting catcher also belted a solo homer off Marcum to cap a five-run outburst in the second.

However, the day ended in disappointing fashion for Martinez, who suffered a bruised left knee and left the game in the fifth. The 28-year-old appeared to grimace on a foul ball during an at-bat in the fourth inning and was replaced in the bottom of the fifth with two outs.

"That ball hit me right on my knee," said Martinez, who is listed as day-to-day. "I started to get tired a little bit when I went back to catch, but it's nothing to worry about. I think I'll be able to play (Sunday)."

Sizemore also got in the act later on, crushing a solo homer in the fourth - his 15th of the season - and roping a double in the fifth. The All-Star center fielder is second in the AL in stolen bases (24) and third in runs (73).

"It was just one of those days where we were swinging the bats well," Sizemore said. "We got on (Toronto) early and were able to add on (runs). We just did a good job of getting good pitches to hit and making them count."

Casey Blake and Trot Nixon also homered while Jhonny Peralta added three hits for Cleveland (52-35), which climbed one-half game ahead of the Detroit Tigers (50-34) for first place in the Central Division. The teams entered the day in a virtual tie atop the division standings.

The Tigers host the Boston Red Sox on Saturday night.

Cleveland provided more than enough support for starter Fausto Carmona (10-4), who worked 5 1/3 innings to win his second straight outing. The righthander yielded three runs, eight hits and three walks with five strikeouts.

"I just try to work hard and do a good job every time I get out there on the mound," Carmona said. "I just tried to keep the ball down, throw sinkers and make sure (Toronto) hit the ball on the ground."

Thanks to Carmona's early-season exploits, the Indians have two 10-game winners prior to the All-Star break for the first time since 1956. All-Star lefthander C.C. Sabathia is 12-3.

"Fausto really set the tone early for us," Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said. "He was aggressive and really did a good job of shutting (Toronto) down after we scored. I'm happy for Fausto, he's really picked us up."

Cleveland owned a 1-0 lead in the second when Josh Barfield plated Ryan Garko with a one-out single to double the advantage. After Sizemore walked, Blake made it 5-0 with his 14th homer - a long blast to left field that capped an eight-pitch at-bat.

Two pitches later, Martinez crushed Marcum's 0-1 offering over the wall in left to push the lead to 6-0.

Marcum lost for the first time in 11 starts this season, yielding season highs of eight runs and nine hits in just 3 1/3 frames. The righthander walked one and struck out two while seeing his ERA balloon from 2.86 to 3.62.

"Cleveland's got a great lineup. They've been putting runs on the board all year," said Marcum, who surrendered a career-high three home runs. "I just didn't do my job today. Balls were up in the zone, I wasn't locating very well and they took advantage of it."

"Marcum's been unbelievable all year, he really has," Toronto manager John Gibbons added. "He just didn't have it today."

Frank Thomas had three hits for the Blue Jays, who fell to 1-4 against the Indians this season.