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Indians aim for 11th straight win vs. Mariners

Aug 29, 2008 - 10:38 AM Seattle (50-83) at Cleveland (65-67), 7:05 pm EDT

CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- The Cleveland Indians have endured a rough season. Their current winning streak, however, is helping them forget those problems.

The surging Indians attempt to pick up their 11th consecutive victory Friday when they face the lowly Seattle Mariners.

Kelly Shoppach homered and drove in three runs to propel Cleveland to a 9-7 triumph over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday. Shin-Soo Choo added three hits, including his seventh homer, and Grady Sizemore singled in a pair of runs as the Indians completed a three-game sweep of their American League Central rivals.

The win helped the Indians match their longest winning streak since April 3-13, 2002. The last time they won more than 10 in a row was an 11-game run in 1983.

"The makeup of the guys in this clubhouse is that they can have a 10-game losing streak and put it all behind them," Shoppach said. "We play the game. We show up every day expecting to win, no matter where we are in the standings or whether we won or not the day before."

Oddly, it was last month that the Indians suffered a 10-game losing streak, the low point of a disappointing season.

Mariners ace Felix Hernandez (8-8, 3.28 ERA) will try to end Cleveland's run. The 22-year-old pitched six strong innings during Sunday's 8-4 triumph over the Oakland Athletics, recording his first win in over a month.

The Indians will counter with lefthander Jeremy Sowers (2-6, 5.95), who was tagged for seven runs over 3 2/3 frames and did not receive a decision in Saturday's 8-7 win over the Texas Rangers.