Sunday, April 29, 2012
Associated Press
CLEVELAND
The power has gone out at Progressive Field.
And the Cleveland Indians were in the dark once again Saturday in a 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Angels.
The Indians’ streak without a home run reached 10 games in their latest defeat. Cleveland’s streak is its longest in nearly 30 years.
“That’s how the game goes,” said manager Manny Acta. “It evens out. We’re going to hit another one, believe me. When you have such a long season, everything comes in cycles.”
The Indians were no match for Angels right-hander Dan Haren, who allowed one run in eight innings. Haren (1-1) gave up four hits, struck out seven and walked two. Cleveland’s only run came on Jack Hannahan’s two-out RBI single in the fourth.
“He does what he always does,” leadoff hitter Michael Brantley said of Haren. “He keeps you off-balance. He throws all his pitches for strikes. He throws what looks like a good strike and it ends up as a ball.”
Haren has won his last three decisions against the Indians and is 4-2 in 11 career starts against Cleveland.
“We couldn’t do anything against Haren,” Acta said. “He’s a guy if you don’t get him early, once he gets in a rhythm he’s very tough. We have struggled against him for a while now.”
Cleveland’s offense matched the elements. The game was delayed at the start by a cold drizzle for 147 minutes and an announced crowd of 11,316 braved temperatures in the low 40s.
Jeanmar Gomez made his first start since serving a five-game suspension for hitting a batter on April 14. Gomez (1-1) struck out a career-high seven over six innings. The right-hander gave up five hits, two runs and two walks.