Marte, Blake power Tribe past Halos

Cleveland snapped LA’s five-game winning streak to climb out of the AL Central cellar.

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The Cleveland Indians gave the AL West-leading Los Angeles Angels an impressive power display Monday night, even with Victor Martinez and Travis Hafner out of the lineup.

Andy Marte and Casey Blake homered against All-Star Ervin Santana and Jhonny Peralta went deep against reliever Justin Speier, leading the Indians to a 5-2 victory that snapped the Angels’ five-game winning streak and pulled Cleveland out of the AL Central basement.

Martinez, Cleveland’s cleanup hitter, hasn’t played since June 11 because of inflammation in his right elbow. Hafner, the Indians’ No.3 hitter, hasn’t played since May 25 due to a right shoulder strain. Last season they combined for 49 homers and 214 RBIs.

“When you take the 3-4 hitters out of any team’s lineup in the majors, it’s going to hurt,” Blake said. “But we were able to capitalize on a couple of mistakes against a great pitcher and got a couple of big home runs. This lineup can still do some damage, but we have to keep doing what we did tonight when we get good pitches to hit.”

Martinez isn’t expected to be back until mid-August. Hafner is scheduled to take a strength test when the Indians return home to see when he will be given clearance to swing.

Manager Eric Wedge acknowledged the injuries are a significant reason for his team’s 44-54 record.

“If you break it down and look at the players that we’ve had injured, arguably that’s the biggest part of our ballclub,” he said. “But what we’re focusing on right now are the players who are here and how they play in the games we have left. We’re going out there and trying to win as many games as possible and see what happens.”

Paul Byrd (4-10) allowed a run and nine hits over 51‚Ñ3 innings for his first victory since June 6. He was 0-5 with a 7.76 ERA in his previous six starts. The former Angels right-hander came in 1-8 with a 6.94 ERA on the road.