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Blake's seven RBI propel Indians past Rangers

Jun 3, 2008 - 5:52 AM By Jay Miller PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ARLINGTON, Texas (Ticker) -- Josh Hamilton has created quite a stir with his early-season production. However, it was Casey Blake's night to steal the headlines.

Blake hit a pair of two-run homers and finished with seven RBI Monday, powering the Cleveland Indians to a 13-9 victory over the Texas Rangers.

The scoring barrage, which led to quick exits for starters Doug Mathis of Texas and Cleveland's Aaron Laffey, included six home runs and 31 hits between the teams.

The Indians jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on Blake's first two-run home run.

"I was just trying to move the runner over (from second) and I got the ball up in the jet stream," Blake said.

After Texas closed the gap to 2-1 in their half of the second, Blake continued to spoil Mathis' first career home start with his second two-run home run in his second at-bat of the night.

"I had yesterday off and I was a little lethargic and I was a little queasy early on, hopefully I'll feel the same way tomorrow," Blake joked. "Seriously, there's no lead here that is safe."

The Indians added a third run in the frame on an RBI double by Jhonny Peralta, plating Shin-Soo Choo from first for a 5-1 lead.

After Hamilton hit a two-run homer to halve the deficit, Blake polished off his first seven-RBI game since July 5, 2003, with a three-run double down the right field line to give the Indians an 8-3 lead.

His seven RBI matched his career high and marked the most by any American League player in a game this season.

Even in defeat, the red-hot Hamilton continued to add to his avalanche of accolades Monday.

Earlier in the day, Hamilton became the first player to receive AL Player of the Month honors for both April and May to begin a season. He homered for the third consecutive game, marking the first three-game homer streak of his career and making him the first Ranger to accomplish the feat since Hank Blalock from May 13-15, 2007.

However, after Cleveland appeared to be on its way to an easy win, Texas stormed back with five runs in the bottom of the fifth against Laffey. Ian Kinsler led off the frame with a double and scored on an RBI single by Michael Young.

After a single by Hamilton and a walk to Milton Bradley loaded the bases, Marlon Byrd tied the game at 8-8 with a 423-foot grand slam to the deepest part of Rangers Ballpark in right-center field.

"I went back and looked at that fifth inning, I really didn't throw a bad pitch," Laffey said. "The home run to Byrd was a little bit up, but other than that, I hit my spots. But, I let the team down and I let Texas back in the game."

The Indians regained the lead at 10-8 in the seventh on a two-run home run by Ben Francisco off reliever Joaquin Benoit.

After the Rangers pulled to within 10-9 in the bottom of the seventh on a two-out RBI single by Chris Shelton, David Dellucci clubbed a two-run homer before Benoit walked four consecutive hitters to force in the final Indians run.

"They have a knack for coming from behind and they did it tonight, but we were able to stay on top," Dellucci said. "Our offense is coming around and we were able to score runs throughout the whole ballgame."

For Ranger pitchers, it was the second straight game to give up 13 runs to their opponent.

"You've gotta pitch," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "I've been saying that from Day One. Our offense is good, but you've got to hold the other team down. We hope we've got it all out of our system the last two days."