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Indians continue life without Hafner, Martinez against Giants

Jun 24, 2008 - 12:13 PM San Francisco (32-44) at Cleveland (35-41), 7:05 pm EDT

CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Grady Sizemore and the Cleveland Indians continue to play without their injured sluggers Tuesday when they host the San Francisco Giants in the opener of a three-game series.

The Indians have spent the last two weeks without catcher Victor Martinez and designated hitter Travis Hafner, the team's top two run producers from last season.

Martinez was placed on the 15-day disabled list on June 11 with an elbow injury, which is expected to sideline him for the next month. Hafner has been out since May 25 with an injury to his right shoulder and has no timetable to return.

In their absence, Sizemore has gotten hits in 10 of the past 11 contests. The center fielder, who is looking to extend his hitting streak to eight games, also has 17 home runs and 17 stolen bases this season.

Sizemore has provided a spark from the leadoff slot, but Casey Blake has picked up the slack in the middle of the lineup vacated by Martinez and Hafner. Blake has knocked in 45 runs this season and is on pace to surpass his career high of 78 RBI set in 2006.

Cleveland will send rookie Aaron Laffey (4-4, 2.98 ERA) to the mound against the struggling Giants on Tuesday. Aside from allowing eight runs in five innings on June 2 to the Texas Rangers, Laffey hasn't yielded more than three runs in any of his last eight starts.

Laffey is also 4-2 with a 1.40 ERA at Jacobs Field, walking just eight in 38 2/3 innings.

Jonathan Sanchez (6-4, 4.23) is slated to start for the Giants after coming off a strong outing against the Detroit Tigers, throwing seven innings and allowing just three runs.