Indians romp; Pirates fall in DC


May 17, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

Ubaldo Jimenez overcame a shaky start to get the win and the Cleveland Indians pounded out a season-best five doubles to beat the Seattle Mariners 9-3 Wednesday night.

Jimenez (4-3) gave up five hits and three runs over six innings. He threw 107 pitches — 27 in a long first inning — walked two and struck out four.

Seattle starter Felix Hernandez (3-3) gave up 10 hits and six earned runs in only 3 2-3 innings. He and Jimenez combined for a 34-minute, 59-pitch first inning that ended with Cleveland ahead 4-1.

Travis Hafner hit his fifth homer and drove in three runs, while Shin-Soo Choo had three hits in Cleveland’s third straight win.

Dustin Ackley had three hits, including a two-run homer, to extend his hitting streak to 12 games for Seattle, which dropped to 1-5 on a 10-game trip. The Mariners won eight of their first 12 road games but are 1-11 away from home since April 28.

Jimenez opened the game by yielding singles to Ackley and Michael Saunders, then uncorked a wild pitch that put runners at second and third. Ackley scored when Ichiro Suzuki grounded out.

Hernandez also gave up singles to the first two men he faced, Choo and Jason Kipnis. He then hit Asdrubal Cabrera with a pitch to load the bases.

Choo scored on a passed ball by catcher Jesus Montero, and Kipnis came home on a hard-hit ball by Hafner that was turned into a groundout when Ackley made a diving stop and threw to first.

Nationals 7, Pirates 4

WASHINGTON

Adam LaRoche broke open a tight game with a three-run double for his 1,000th career hit after homering for No. 999, and Gio Gonzalez took over the NL strikeout lead from teammate Stephen Strasburg by fanning 10 in seven innings Wednesday night, leading the Washington Nationals past the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Hitting cleanup while Michael Morse is on the disabled list, LaRoche leads the Nationals with seven homers and 29 RBIs. Talk about a turnaround: LaRoche hit .172 with three homers in 43 games in 2011 before having left shoulder surgery.