Tribe batters Scott Baker in 8-1 win over Twins: Cleveland Indians briefing

Written by: admin on 23rd April 2010

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Mitch Talbot shines and Andy Marte homers as Indians break out of batting slump vs. Twins.

UPDATED: 3:55 p.m.

Jim Mone / Associated PressOnce again, Mitch Talbot provided a sterling performance on the mound for the Indians on Thursday, not allowing an earned run in Cleveland’s 8-1 victory over Minnesota.MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — This is a daily briefing of the Indians 2010 regular season. The Indians play the Twins today in the final game of a three-game series at Target Field.

Final score: Indians 8, Twins 1.

Mitch Talbot pitched six innings and the Indians equaled their season high with eight runs to beat the Twins and avoid a three-game sweep at the hands of the AL Central leaders.

Andy Marte homered and drove in three runs. The Indians hit six doubles and turned four double plays to beat Scott Baker, who was 4-0 against them last year.

Talbot allowed one unearned run on two hits. He walked three and struck out three on 99 pitches.

In-game notes:

Roll on Big O: Indians scored three times in the sixth to take a 6-1 lead against Scott Baker. Travis Hafner and Matt LaPorta singled and Russell Branyan doubled off the left field wall to score Hafner and send LaPorta to third.

Andy Marte blooped a single to center to score LaPorta. Marte was thrown out on a what appeared to be a botched hit-and-run, but Luis Valbuena doubled down the right field line to score Branyan. It was Valbuena’s second double and fifth of the game.

Boo-boo: After hitting a two-run homer in the fourth for a 3-1 lead, Marte dropped a routine foul pop up in the bottom of the inning by Orlando Hudson. Hudson walked and came around to score to make it 3-1.

The line: Baker allowed six runs on 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings. Seventy five percent (69-of-92) of his pitches were strikes. If you’re going to get the Indians out, he needs to throw a lot more balls.

Big pop: Marte, playing for slumping Jhonny Peralta, hit a two-run homer in the fourth to give the Indians a 3-0 lead. Marte hit a 2-2 pitch from Baker into the left field seats on a line. It was his first homer of the season and his third against Baker.

Finally a run: Asdrubal Cabrera and Grady Sizemore hit consecutive ground-rule doubles in the first inning to give the Indians a 1-0 lead against Baker. It was their first run in 24 straight innings.

Cabrera’s double hit the right field foul line and Sizemore’s double hit the left field line.

Double your pleasure: The Indians D helped Mitch Talbot out of trouble with double plays to end the second and third innings. They turned a third in the fifth.

Pregame notes:

Game 15: RHP Mitch Talbot (1-1, 3.21) vs. RHP Scott Baker (2-1, 3.38) today at 1:10 p.m. EST. Talbot is coming off his first big-league victory and he did it in style, pitching a six-hitter in the Tribe’s 6-2 victory over Chicago.

Baker is the Twins ace. He went 15-9 last year with a 4.37 ERA in 33 starts. He’s 2-1 this year with a 3.38 ERA. Baker went 4-0 with a 1.57 ERA (six earned runs in 34 1/3 innings) against the Indians last season. He’s 7-5 with a 3.14 ERA in 16 starts lifetime against them.

Swing the bat: Grady Sizemore is hitting .324 (12-for-37) against Baker. Andy Marte, starting at third, has two homers against him. The Twins don’t have a hitter on their roster who has faced Talbot in the big leagues.

Roadhouse blues: The Indians entered Thursday’s game having lost 21 of their last 23 road games.

Records: Indians 6-8, Twins 11-4.

Lineups: Indians: SS Asdrubal Cabrera (S), CF Grady Sizemore (L), Shin-Soo Choo (L), DH Travis Hafner (L), LF Matt LaPorta (R), 1B Russell Branyan (L), 3B Andy Marte (R), 2B Luis Valbuena (L), C Lou Marson (R) and RHP Talbot.

Twins: CF Denard Span (L), 2B Orlando Hudson (S), LF Jason Kubel (L), 1B Justin Morneau (L), RF Michael Cuddyer (R), DH Jim Thome (L), 3B Brendan Harris (R), C Drew Butera (R), SS Alexi Casilla (R) and RHP Baker.

Umpires: H Tim Timmons, 1B Tim Tschida, 2B Bob Davidson, 3B Alfonso Marquez. Tschida, crew chief.

Next: Jake Westbrook (0-1, 5.40) faces Justin Duchscherer (1-0, 2.41) Friday at the Coliseum. Game time is 10:07 p.m. EST as the Indians open a three-game series against the A’s.

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