TRIBE NOTES From Jacobs Field

Sellout: Despite huge blocks of empty upperdeck seats down the first-base line and in the outfield, the Indians announced a sellout crowd of 42,441 for their ninth-straight Jacobs Field home opener sellout. "It's like a beehive in here when things get rolling," said rookie Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, who was Minnesota's third-base coach from 1998-2001. "You could tell the fans were generating a lot of excitement." Twins designated hitter David Ortiz said he's happier playing in Cleveland than in the Metrodome. "I like to play games at The Jake," said Ortiz after going 1-4 against the Indians. "We have better games played here than at home."
Tickets: Plenty of tickets are available for each of the remaining six Indians games on this homestand (tonight through Thursday against the Twins and Friday through Sunday against the Kansas City Royals).
Pitching matchups: Chuck Finley, 39, makes his season debut tonight against the Twins' Joe Mays (0-1, 9.82). Finley missed his first start of the season after receiving scrapes and bruises in an argument with his wife, actress Tawny Kitaen, who was charged by California police with spousal abuse. Last year (his second with the Tribe), Finley was a disappointing 8-7 with a 5.54 ERA. Wednesday, Indians rookie Danys Baez (1-0, 1.69) faces Rick Reed (1-0, 3.6). Thursday, Bartolo Colon (2-0, 1.72) faces Kyle Lohse (0-0, 6.23).
Grand: Although Travis Fryman only hit three homers last year, one of them was a grand slam against the Royals on Sept. 18. That game was the Indians' first after the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on Sept. 11. Fryman hit an Eric Milton fastball in the third inning Monday for his sixth career grand slam. It was the Indians' first grand slam in a home opener since George Vukovich did it in 1983 against the Baltimore Orioles.
Newcomer homers: In the fourth inning, Indians right fielder Matt Lawton connected for his sixth homer in 25 games at Jacobs Field. His previous five came while playing for the Twins. Last year, Lawton was traded to the New York Mets for Reed. In December, he came to Cleveland when Roberto Alomar was traded to New York. Lawton connected on a slider from Milton. "He throws a good fastball, but I'm a good fastball hitter," Lawton said. "He didn't have his great stuff today by any means. He's not one of those lefties who comes out with those crazy arm angles, so I wouldn't mind facing him a couple more times." Twins left fielder Jacque Jones, who had four hits Monday, said it felt strange seeing his former teammate on the other side. "In the first inning, it felt like we were in an intrasquad game," Jones said. " I'm happy for Matt. He's a good hitter and he's going to help the Indians out."
Power surge: Jones wasn't surprised to see the Indians produce nine runs. "Ellis Burks can hit, Jim Thome can hit, [Omar] Vizquel is a table-setter, Matt Lawton can hit and is a table-setter, Milton Bradley is going to be a fine hitter. All those guys can hit -- they just keep turning out hitters. And they have some pretty good arms over there, too." Jones, who went 4-for-4 and scored twice, has hits in all seven of the Twins games and raised his batting average to .467.
Quick start: The Indians jumped on Twins pitcher Eric Milton for nine runs on eight hits in four innings. Ellis Burks, Travis Fryman and Matt Lawton each connected for home runs that eventually sent Milton to the showers. After the game, Tribe players had nothing but respectful words for a pitcher who won 15 games a year ago. "He's always had good stuff. He's one of the better left-handers in the game, and he's a guy who challenges you," Tribe first baseman Jim Thome said. So how did the Indians have so much success? "Our hitters took advantage of the pitches they got to hit," Thome said. "We needed our righties to come through with big at-bats, and they did."