Friday, August 28, 2009
BALTIMORE (AP) — Andy Marte hit a two-run homer on a 3-2 pitch from Jim Johnson with two outs in the ninth inning, giving the Cleveland Indians a 5-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday night.
Johnson (3-5) got the first two outs in the ninth before allowing a single to Matt LaPorta. After going 3-0 on Marte, the No. 9 hitter in the lineup, Johnson worked the count full before Marte hit a liner that barely cleared the 7-foot wall in left field.
It was his second home run in 69 at-bats this season.
Johnson, who took over as Baltimore’s closer after George Sherrill was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 30, had been 4 for 4 in save opportunities.
Rafael Perez (3-2) pitched 12‚Ñ3 innings of one-hit relief and Kerry Wood got three outs for his 17th save. Baltimore had runners on the corners with two outs in the ninth before Nick Markakis struck out on a checked swing.
Grady Sizemore homered and Shin-Soo Choo had three hits for the Indians, who trailed 4-2 in the seventh. Cleveland has won 15 of 25 and is 22-16 since the All-Star break.
Melvin Mora and Matt Wieters homered for the Orioles, now 44-3 when leading after eight innings. Mora singled and scored the tiebreaking run in the sixth on a double by Luke Scott, and Wieters hit his fifth homer in the seventh to put Baltimore up 4-2.
The Indians got within a run in the eighth when Sizemore singled and scored on a two-out double by Choo.
Cleveland starter Aaron Laffey allowed three runs, two earned, and five hits in 52‚Ñ3 innings — ending a run of six straight games in which Indians starters went at least six innings. Laffey was 3-0 with a 2.00 ERA in four starts in August.
Sizemore put the Indians up 1-0 with his 21st career leadoff homer, a drive to center on the fourth pitch of the game by rookie David Hernandez. Mora led off the second with his fifth home run, ending a 3-for-25 skid that began after his last homer, on Aug. 17.
Cleveland went up 2-1 in the fifth when Marte tripled and scored on a groundout by Sizemore. Baltimore used two walks and throwing error by second baseman Luis Valbuena to pull even in the bottom half.
Notes
It was the first meeting between the teams since Sept. 27. ... The Orioles were without CF Adam Jones, who missed a fourth straight game with back spasms. ... Choo was 17 for 18 in stolen base attempts before being nailed by Wieters in the sixth.