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Sabathia, Santana face off as Indians aim for sweep of Twins

Aug 29, 2007 - 2:12 PM Minnesota (67-65) at Cleveland (74-57) 7:05 pm EDT

CLEVELAND (Ticker) - C.C. Sabathia is glad to see the Cleveland Indians scoring runs, now he needs them to keep it up.

Sabathia takes the mound as the Indians aim for their fifth straight win and a three-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday.

Cleveland (74-57), which leads Detroit (71-61) by 3 1/2 games in the American League Central, got a two-run homer from Travis Hafner and a solo homer from Grady Sizemore in a 6-5 win on Tuesday.

The Indians have scored five or more runs in three straight games for the first time since July 23, and Sabathia (14-7, 3.38 ERA) hopes that continues. The lefthander has a 2.13 ERA over his last seven starts, but has just one win because the Indians have scored just 18 runs for him in those outings. In his last outing, Sabathia allowed two runs and five hits in eight innings of a 2-1 loss to Kansas City on Friday.

Sabathia may not see a lot of run support in this one though, since he is matched up against Minnesota's ace, Johan Santana. Santana (14-9, 2.97) is looking for his fourth straight winning decision. On Friday, the lefthander wasn't very sharp, allowing four runs and eight hits in seven innings of a 7-4 win over Baltimore.

Minnesota (67-65), which trails Cleveland by 7 1/2 games, needs a solid start out of Santana if it is to avoid being swept here for the second time this season.