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Trio of homers helps Indians down Angels

Jul 22, 2008 - 5:39 AM ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- The Cleveland Indians used a trio of home runs to keep their winning streak alive.

Andy Marte, Casey Blake and Jhonny Peralta all homered as the Indians claimed a 5-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Monday night.

After sweeping a three-game series against the lowly Seattle Mariners over the weekend, the Indians wasted little time taking the lead against the Angels as David Dellucci's sacrifice fly in the second inning gave Cleveland an early advantage.

"We are playing better right now and that is because we are doing a better job of executing and taking advantage of opportunities," Indians manager Eric Wedge said.

Jeff Mathis evened the score with an RBI single in the bottom half, but Marte put the Indians back on top in the fourth with a solo home run - his second of the season - off Angels starter Ervin Santana (11-4).

"We knew coming in that runs were going to be hard to get off Santana," Marte said. "We tried to get to him early before he settled in and I helped out after getting a good pitch to hit."

Blake extended the lead to 4-1 in the fifth with his 11th homer, stroking a two-run blast to left field.

"I just got a fastball middle in and got the barrel of my bat on it and had enough power to hit the home run," Blake said. "This was a good win for us and just have to keep the confidence going."

Santana pitched well but was bitten by the longball. He allowed four runs - three earned - and seven hits while striking out eight in seven innings.

"I didn't pitch too bad," Santana said. "I made some mistakes with my location and they hit them."

Peralta notched his 17th homer off Angels reliever Justin Speier in the eighth. The shot helped Peralta extend his current hitting streak to 11 games and gave the Indians a 5-1 lead.

Paul Byrd (4-10) earned the win after surrendering one run and nine hits in 5 1/3 innings. Byrd walked two and struck out five to snap a personal five-game losing streak that dated to June 6.

"It was a tough game, but a lot of fun starting the second half on a good start," Byrd said. "It was one of those nights when nothing came easy for me. I flirted with disaster all night but came out on top."

Angels' second baseman Howie Kendrick capped the scoring in the eighth with his third homer, a solo shot off Rafael Perez.

Perez pitched 2 2/3 innings of relief before being replaced by Masa Kobayashi, who struck out the side in the ninth to earn his sixth save of 2008.

The loss snapped Anaheim's five-game win streak, which included three straight victories against the reigning World Series champion Boston Red Sox.

"We swept the defending champs and came up short tonight," Kendrick said. "That's just how baseball is sometimes, so we just have to put this one behind us and come out ready to play (on Tuesday)."