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Indians send Rays to seventh straight loss

Jul 13, 2008 - 9:40 PM By Todd Krepop PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- The Cleveland Indians head into the All-Star break finally playing the type of baseball they expected to play all season.

Jhonny Peralta homered and drove in three runs as the Indians extended the Tampa Bay Rays' losing streak to seven games with a 5-2 victory on Sunday.

Andy Marte also homered for the Indians, who have won 13 consecutive games against the Rays in Cleveland.

"We played some pretty good baseball the last four days," Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said. "It was great to see. I think it's more typical of what you expect from our guys. We had to put some things behind us and we did. We went back to what we do best and that is playing good baseball."

Hopes were high for the Indians this season as Cleveland returned every key player from last year's team that finished one game short of the World Series. However, injuries and a struggling bullpen plummeted the Indians into last place in the American League Central Division leading Cleveland to cut closer Joe Borowski and trade CC Sabathia to the Milwaukee Brewers in the past 10 days.

But the Cleveland relievers, who entered the game with an AL-worst 5.23 ERA combined for five perfect innings after starter Jeremy Sowers couldn't make it to the fifth. Tom Mastny (1-2) pitched two innings to pick up the win and Masa Kobayashi pitched the ninth for his fifth save in seven chances to finish the sweep of the Rays.

"Baseball is hard to explain," All-Star Grady Sizemore said. "But we did a good job of finishing the first half strong."

The Rays (55-39) on the other hand limp into the All-Star break in second place in the AL East after the Boston Red Sox defeated the Baltimore Orioles.

"I hate what just happened this week, but we're sitting in a very good spot," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "I don't want that to be forgotten. That would be absolutely wrong."

All-Star Scott Kazmir (7-5) was unable to stop the Rays' season-high losing streak. The Tampa Bay ace surrendered five runs and eight hits in six innings, walking two and striking out seven.

"I think we got (Cleveland) hot," Kazmir said. "They really put it to us. It was an ugly series."

Peralta blasted a two-run homer in the fifth off of Kazmir to break a 2-2 tie. Sizemore drew a lead off walk and went to second on a sacrifice. Kazmir got Ben Francisco to pop out, but couldn't get out of the inning as he hung a 1-0 breaking ball to Peralta.

"Jhonny has really stepped up in the clean up spot," Wedge said. "He is going up there with a plan and sticking to that plan no matter the result. Right now he is as consistent as he has been all year."

Marte followed the next inning with a solo home run off of Kazmir to increase the Indians' lead to 5-2. It was Marte's first home run since April 4, 2007 against the Chicago White Sox.

"It was awesome," Marte said. "I have been waiting for this all season."

Tampa Bay scored runs in the second and third to take a 2-0 lead as Akinori Iwamura drew a bases-loaded walk and Shawn Riggans had an RBI single.

But Kazmir was unable to hold the lead as the Indians scored twice in the third on a RBI single by Francisco and a sacrifice fly by Peralta.

Sowers lasted only four innings as the lefthander had trouble finding the strike zone. Sowers yielded only two runs and three hits, but walked a career-high seven batters to go along with a career-high eight strikeouts.