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Saturday, Jun. 10 1:15pm ET
Three-homer inning elevates Cleveland | |||||
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GAME LOG
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Sweat dripping from his head on a sweltering day and his right arm needing ice, Dave Burba decided to sit through the bottom of the sixth inning to watch the Indians hit. "Something just told me to stop," said Burba, who had just left trailing 5-3. "I said, 'I m going to wait until we score these three runs.' "
"I think I'm going to buy a lottery ticket tonight," Burba said. The Ohio Lottery prize is up to $28 million. Fryman's leadoff homer in sixth against Steve Parris (2-9) was followed by one from Russell Branyan as the Indians tied it at 5. Kenny Lofton homered with two outs as Cleveland won for the seventh time in eight games. Burba (7-1) won his sixth straight decision, allowing five runs and six hits in six innings. The right-hander hasn't lost in his last 10 starts. "If you can hold the fort down with this team, the cavalry will show up," Burba said. "We have the total package. Great hitting, great defense and great pitching. There's no secret to it." Scott Kamieniecki pitched two scoreless innings and Steve Karsay worked the ninth for his 14th save. Karsay has not given up a run in his last six games. Ken Griffey Jr. and Michael Tucker each hit two-run homers for the slumping Reds, who have dropped nine of 13. Parris is winless in his last six starts. "Everything seems to be going against us," said Sean Casey. "How about that one (second) inning they had. Choppers, bloopers. To lose 6-5 is tough because we're playing well, just not getting results." The Indians made several sparkling defensive plays, none bigger than David Justice throwing out Griffey trying to stretch a single in the seventh for the second out. With the tying run at first, Griffey hit a ball into the right-field corner but didn't accelerate until rounding first. The Reds ended up stranding the tying run at third. Omar Vizquel, Jim Thome and Richie Sexson also helped out the Indians with their defense. Known more for their offensive firepower, the Indians lead the majors in fielding percentage and have allowed only 13 unearned runs this year. "It seems like every time we've won a one-run game, our defense plays a big part in it," said Indians manager Charlie Manuel. "I can't talk enough about our defense. I could go on forever." Trailing 5-3 in the sixth, Fryman who homered to open the fourth, led off the inning with his 12th homer. The Jacobs Field crowd was still settling back into its seats when Branyan hit Parris' next pitch over the wall in left for his fourth homer in just 14 at-bats since being recalled from the minors. "He's got a lot of thunder in his bat," Manuel said. Lofton, who was benched Friday night partly because of a recent hitting slump, then drove a fastball from Parris the other way to left-center for his fourth homer. "You can't feel comfortable with a lead in this park against them," said Reds manager Jack McKeon. "They complain they need pitching, but Burba is 7-1. They got Colon and Finley. They want to trade them? We'll take them." Tucker snapped a 2-2 tie in the second with his ninth homer this season. Fryman's leadoff homer in the fourth brought the Indians within 4-3. But the Reds got the run back in the fifth on Dante Bichette's sacrifice fly to left. Griffey put the Reds up 2-0 with his 17th homer, a towering two-run shot into the right-field stands. It was Griffey's 415th career homer, putting him into 27th place on the all-time list. Burba had gone 38 2/3 innings without giving up a homer before Griffey's blast. The Indians loaded the bases in the second on Thome's bloop double, a one-out walk to Branyan and Sexson's swinging infield single. Parris then hit Einar Diaz to force in Cleveland's first run, and Lofton's topper became an RBI infield base hit, tying it 2-2.
Game notes | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Cincinnati Clubhouse Cleveland Clubhouse RECAPS Chi. White Sox 4 Chicago Cubs 3
Cleveland 6
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