Talbot pitches Indians to win

Associated Press

TORONTO

The Cleveland Indians brought a quick stop to their slide.

Mitch Talbot won for the first time since April 11, Grady Sizemore drove in a pair of runs and the Indians beat the Blue Jays 6-3 on Tuesday night, snapping Toronto’s four-game winning streak.

“Defensively, we looked alive. Offensively, we looked alive,” Talbot said. “When a guy got on, we moved him over and got him in. That’s what we were doing early in the season. Hopefully we’re getting on track and getting ready to go.”

Cleveland had been outscored 44-12 while losing five of its previous six, but turned that around against a Blue Jays team that beat them 11-1 on Monday.

“We swung the bat a lot better today,” manager Manny Acta said.

Sizemore came in 0 for 12 with seven strikeouts in three games since coming off the DL last week, but ended his slump with a pair of RBI doubles. He finished 2 for 4, raising his average to .255.

“When you’re struggling for four or five games, you want to stop it there,” Sizemore said. “You don’t want it to go for 10 or 15.”

Talbot (2-1), who missed more than three weeks with a sore elbow earlier this season, started for the second time since coming off the disabled list on May 25. Tagged for eight runs in three innings against Boston in his return start, he allowed one run and six hits in 62/3 innings in this one.

“The first three innings he was a little shaky with his control, but he made good pitches when he had to,” Acta said. “After that, he got into a better groove and threw more strikes.”

The Indians did all their scoring against Blue Jays right-hander Brandon Morrow, who gave up a season-high six runs in five innings.

“They were hitting some good pitches,” Morrow said. “I thought I had good stuff.”

The nine hits allowed by Morrow (2-3) matched a season high. He walked two and struck out nine, but has not won in three starts.

Joe Smith got one out in the seventh and Vinnie Pestano worked the eighth. Tony Sipp got two outs, but gave up a solo homer to Yunel Escobar in the ninth, and Chris Perez got the final out.