Sabathia shuts out Twins, gets a lot of offensive help

Casey Blake homered twice in Cleveland's 11-0 win.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- C.C. Sabathia is making pitching look easy these days.
Sabathia threw a six-hitter, Casey Blake homered twice and the Cleveland Indians frustrated the Minnesota Twins 11-0 Wednesday.
"I'm sweating now because it's hot in here," Sabathia said in the clubhouse after the game. "But it didn't even feel like I was sweating out there."
Sabathia, coming off a three-hitter Friday against Pittsburgh, pitched his third career shutout and first since Sept. 6, 2004, at Seattle.
"It just seems like he's not even trying out there," Blake said. "It's like he's playing with the hitters and doing whatever he wants to do."
Radke chase, Gardenhire tossed
While Sabathia pitched his second consecutive complete game, Twins starter Brad Radke was chased in the sixth inning. Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire also had a short day -- he was ejected in a hat-throwing, dirt-kicking exchange with umpire Angel Hernandez.
Sabathia (4-1) struck out eight and retired 14 straight batters during one stretch. Since coming off the disabled list May 2, the big left-hander is 4-1 with an 0.91 ERA. He has fanned 27 in his last three starts.
"I remember a few years ago, C.C. would come in 96, 97, 98 [mph] with his fastball," Minnesota's Torii Hunter said. "Now, he's throwing 95 and locating his pitches better. He's a pitcher now."
Blake, formerly of the Twins, hit a solo home run in the fourth for a 3-0 lead and added a three-run shot off Dennys Reyes in the seventh. He has nine homers this season and is batting .354.
Blake has a pair of two-homer games this year and five in his career. He's done it all for the Indians this season, batting in every spot except leadoff and cleanup.
"Confidence is a good explanation for it," he said. "Having success early in the year and not digging a hole for yourself. The great ones have confidence all the time, and success breeds confidence."
Coming off 0-for-5
Blake's big day came after going 0-for-5 in the Indians' 6-5, 10-inning loss Tuesday night.
"If I was scuffling, maybe a year ago I'd just be unsure of myself," he said. "Today I came back. I was confident today I was going to hit the ball hard."
Victor Martinez added three hits and drove in two runs for Cleveland. The Indians have won six of eight following a six-game losing streak.
Radke allowed six runs and 11 hits in 52/3 innings. He has lost six of his past eight starts and his ERA has ballooned to 7.44.
"He just didn't make enough pitches as he went along," Gardenhire said.
Gardenhire came out to argue calls in the first and third innings, and was tossed in the fifth. He was ejected while arguing with Hernandez at second on an obstruction call against Twins second baseman Nick Punto.
Gardenhire ran from the dugout, kicked dirt over second base and threw his hat. When the manager left his hat near second base, Hernandez picked it up and started to stuff it in his back pocket.
The exchange ended when Gardenhire returned to retrieve his hat and Hernandez tossed it to him.
"You go out there enough times and you get pitched," said Gardenhire, who has been ejected four times this season. "It didn't work out for us today -- for me."
Radke was in trouble from the start, giving up two runs in the first inning on a double by Martinez.
It was the latest in a long line of rough first-inning outings for Radke, who allowed three runs to Toronto on April 5, three to the Chicago White Sox on April 22 and two to Detroit on April 29.