Marlins ejected, dejected in Cleveland’s 7-3 victory

Three Florida players got tossed in a key sixth-inning stretch.

MIAMI (AP) — David Dellucci broke a tie with a three-run homer in a wild sixth inning, leading the Cleveland Indians to a testy 7-3 victory over the Florida Marlins Wednesday night.

The Marlins started the sixth up 3-0. Over the next 29 minutes, they matched a season high by allowing six runs, made two costly errors and had reliever Taylor Tankersley, first baseman Aaron Boone and manager Fredi Gonzalez ejected after Tankersley hit Grady Sizemore in the back with a two-strike pitch.

Both dugouts got warnings from plate umpire Brian Knight one inning earlier, after the benches cleared when Cliff Lee hit Marlins slugger Miguel Cabrera with a pitch.

After Sizemore was plunked, Tankersley and Gonzalez were immediately ejected. Boone got tossed for arguing.

Victor Martinez and Travis Hafner each had two hits for Cleveland, which won at Florida for the first time since Game 6 of the 1997 World Series. Lee (3-4) allowed three hits and struck out six in five innings for his first win in five starts.

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The win, combined with Detroit’s 3-2 loss to Milwaukee, put the Indians one game ahead of the Tigers and alone atop the AL Central. Casey Blake extended his hitting streak to 22 games with a third-inning single for Cleveland.

Hanley Ramirez had two hits, including a two-run double in the first inning, for the Marlins. Reggie Abercrombie and Matt Treanor each had two hits for Florida, which fell apart in the sixth.

Hafner and Jhonny Peralta scored the first two runs when Marlins second baseman Dan Uggla stopped Trot Nixon’s grounder, but threw the ball past Boone and into the dugout for an error. That snapped a 26-inning road scoring drought by the Indians, who batted .143 as a team over that stretch.

Mike Rouse reached when his fly ball bounced out of right fielder Jeremy Hermida’s glove. After Nixon scored on Ryan Garko’s groundout, Gonzalez pulled starter Byung-Hyun Kim (3-3) and summoned Tankersley to face Sizemore.

After Tankersley was ejected, Lee Gardner — called up earlier in the day when Florida put Henry Owens on the 15-day disabled list — came on. Gardner’s first batter was Dellucci, who connected for his fourth homer of the year.

Cleveland made it 7-3 in the eighth when Sizemore scored on a fielder’s choice by Martinez.

Kim was charged with four runs — one earned — in 52⁄3 innings. He struck out a season-high eight.

Florida got three runs in the first. Abercrombie led off with a single, Uggla walked and Ramirez’s double drove in both. Ramirez then stole third and scored on Josh Willingham’s double-play grounder.

Notes

Kim threw behind Dellucci in the third inning, drawing no warning. It appeared the ball slipped out of his hand. ... Gonzalez was ejected for the second time. ... Hafner reached in the seventh when his popup landed between C Treanor and 3B Cabrera — who darted glances at each other as the ball dropped in front of the mound. ... Florida fell to 8-1 when Abercrombie leads off.