Written by Rich Swerbinsky

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Tribe with 25 Runs in the Last Two Games

Twenty hits.  Fifteen runs.  No errors.  And just seven hits and no walks allowed by the pitching staff.

The Indians played close to a perfect game yesterday, humiliating the Orioles 15-1 before their home crowd at Camden Yards.  

Grady Sizemore, Victor Martinez, Ben Broussard, and Casey Blake had three hits apiece to lead the attack offensively.  Jason Johnson pitched seven innings, allowing just seven hits, one run, and nary a walk.  Danny Graves and Scott Sauerbeck, both who have struggled this season, each pitched a perfect inning of relief to finish off the win.

The Indians have responded to their shutout at the hands of Mike Maroth and others on Saturday in a big way, outscoring the Tigers and Orioles 25-3 over the last two ball games.  The team now finds themselves tied with the rival White Sox atop the Central division at 9-5.  Chicago has won four in a row.

It was Victor’s two run home run in the fourth inning that really started the assault, and increased the Indians early lead to 4-0.  It was Victor’s second home run on the season, and he has now hit safely in all thirteen of his starts this season.  Martinez is hitting .418 on the year, with 12 runs driven in.

Casey Blake’s stayed red hot as well, churning out another three base hits to raise his average to .447.  Blake also drove in his 13^th and 14^th runs on the season, and drew another walk.

The Indians chased Bruce Chen early in the 5^th inning.  After Victor’s home run in the fourth, they went on to score three more runs, running the score to 7-0.  They tallied another run in the 6th, and then posted five more runs in the 7^th to stretch the lead out to 13-0.

And we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the effort by Jason Johnson last night, who was superb.  He three strikes, kept the ball down, and didn’t surrender a run until Brian Roberts doubled one in off him in the 8^th inning.  Johnson is now 2-0 on the season with a 1.83 ERA in three starts.

The Tribe sends Jake Westbrook to the hill tonight to face Rodrigo Lopez of the O’s in game two of this series.