AMERICAN LEAGUE Indians a winner among losers

The lowly Tigers had leads of 6-0 and 9-7 before Casey Blake's home run.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- The matchup of the AL's two worst teams lived up to expectations. Or in this case, down to them.
The Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians will play 18 more times this season, but they'll have a tough time matching the show they put on Monday night.
Carlos Pena certainly will.
Early leads
Pena hit three home runs and Detroit built an early lead, but Casey Blake's two-run homer in the seventh inning rallied Cleveland for a 10-9 win over the woeful Tigers, who have lost five straight.
The clubs combined for 19 runs, 24 hits, three errors and a couple bonehead plays that at times made the game look more Little League than major league.
"I guess it was fun for the fans," said Pena, who came in with just three homers and nine RBIs. "But I wanted the win. Then this would have been a perfect night."
Pena hit a leadoff homer in the second, a grand slam in the third and connected for a two-run shot in the seventh for the Tigers, who blew 6-0 and 9-7 leads.
"To squander a 6-0 lead is very disappointing," said Tigers manager Alan Trammell, who took little consolation in his team's offensive output. "We scored a lot of runs, but 1-0, 3-1, 10-9, it's a loss and that's not what we're looking for."
Pena's seven RBIs were a career high and he became the first Detroit player to hit three homers in a game since June 24, 2000, when Bobby Higginson did it -- also against the Indians.
With a chance to become the 15th player in history to hit four homers, Pena flied out to shallow center for the final out in the ninth.
Acquaintance
"That was pretty dramatic that Carlos came up for the last out," said Cleveland outfielder Jody Gerut, a teammate of Pena's in the Cape Cod League in 1996. "I know him real well and I know he can drive the ball."
Pena is the third player to hit three homers in a game this season, joining Milwaukee's Richie Sexson and Cincinnati's Aaron Boone.
Gerut hit a three-run homer for the Indians, who improved to 8-8 in May after going 7-20 in April.
Trailing 6-0, the Indians scored three times in the third, once in the fourth and fifth and tied it 7-7 in the sixth on Matt Lawton's two-run single.
"When we got down 6-0, we felt if we kept playing things might turn around," said Blake. "I knew in the back of my mind that Detroit has had some bad karma trying to hold leads."
Pena's third homer gave the Tigers a 9-7 lead in the seventh, but the Indians got three in the bottom half on Josh Bard's RBI double and Blake's fourth homer, a shot to center off Jamie Walker (1-1).
It was Blake's error that helped the Tigers score five runs in the third.
"The five-run inning was on my shoulders," he said. "I messed up that play. All I could ask for was a chance to redeem myself."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.