Indians-Padres: Tribe Waits Out Rainstorm To Beat Padres 9-5

Friday the 13^th seemed to have some weird things going on for the Indians, but they cruised to a 9-5 victory despite the superstitious date.

Playing the San Diego Padres was unusual, and the Indians win' did not end until 1:20 a.m. EST.  The really strange part of that is the Indians weren’t on the West Coast. They were in the friendly confines of a rainy Progressive Field in Cleveland.

A rain delay and the typical long game Tribe fans have become accustomed to contributed to the late end time.  Thunderstorms blew through Cleveland, shutting down incoming flights and baseball.

Grady Sizemore didn’t seem to mind.  He provided an offensive thunderstorm of his own, collecting two home runs and three RBI.  Cleveland had 12 hits in the game.

The Indians opened up a 3-0 lead early, squandered it, but took it right back.  After being swept earlier in the year by the Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland opened the second three-game series against an NL team with a win. They are off to a good start. 

Sizemore started the game with a bang, going deep on a 1-1 count and staking the Tribe to an early lead.

In the third, Casey Blake started the inning off with a single and Kelly Shoppach homered making the score 3-0.

The Padres got back to within one in the top of the fourth.  A pair of singles put Gonzalez and Clark on first and second for Kouzmanoff.  He doubled in Gonzalez and parked Clark on third.  Greene grounded out to Peralta, but scored Clark.  3-2 Tribe.

The top of the fifth ended Sowers’ night.  The Padres struck for a pair again and took their first lead of the evening on a two-run home run by Gonzalez after Brian Giles had singled.  That brought on Rafael Betancourt, who got the Indians out of the inning on a strikeout and a grounder.

Jeremy Sowers started for the Tribe, giving up all four Padres runs on nine hits in four and a third innings.  Betancourt went an inning and two-thirds after that, earning the win.  Rafael Perez got a hold for his inning and two-thirds.  Masa Kobayashi picked up the save in an inning and a third.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Indians regained a one-run lead on a pair of singles by Ben Francisco and Ryan Garko.  After a passed ball moved both runners into scoring position and Jhonny Peralta walked to load the bases, Shin-Soo Choo delivered a two-out RBI single, scoring both Francisco and Garko.

In the bottom of the seventh, they’d tack on another pair.  Shoppach walked and Sizemore hit his second home run of the night, this time a two-run tally.

In the eighth, Kouzmanoff homered for San Diego, cutting the gap to 7-5.  The Indians scored another two runs in the bottom of the eighth.  Choo, Shoppach and Sizemore walked to load the bases.  Jamie Carroll singled, advancing everyone one base and scoring Choo. 

Francisco hit a sacrifice fly for the second out of the inning, but scored Shoppach and moved Sizemore over to third.  Ryan Garko got the free pass to load up the bases, but David Dellucci, who could not buy a hit all night, flied out to end the inning.

Kobayashi pitched a one-two-three ninth, giving the Tribe their second win in as many nights and their fourth win in the last five games. Sizemore has eight home runs in the last 14 games, giving him a push for the All Star game.

Saturday’s 7:05 p.m. start features Cliff Lee and Cha Seung Baek.  AL wins leader Lee goes for his 11th victory of the season.