Indians end Boston's 11-game winning streak 9-8

[March 19, 2010]  CLEVELAND (AP) -- Mark DeRosa had four hits and scored from second base on an error with two outs in the ninth inning as the Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox 9-8 on Tuesday night, snapping their 11-game winning streak.

The Indians won for only the second time in their last 11 games against the Red Sox, including Boston sweeping the final three games of the 2007 ALCS.

Kerry Wood (1-1), worked a shaky ninth, but earned his first AL win. The right-hander gave up two singles, but got Jacoby Ellsbury to line out to second with runners on first and third and two outs.

DeRosa, who entered the game in a 2-for-22 slump, began the ninth with a bloop single off Javier Lopez (0-2). After a sacrifice and a strikeout, first baseman Kevin Youkilis made a backhanded stop of Asdrubal Cabrera's grounder and flipped to Lopez, who dropped it as he got to first base while DeRosa scored.

Boston shortstop Julio Lugo, in his first game since July, broke a 7-7 tie with an RBI single in the seventh.

DeRosa tied it at 8 in the bottom half with his fourth homer.

Lugo, activated on Monday, had not played since July 11, when he strained his left quadriceps and missed the rest of the season. He hurt his right knee on March 13 in an exhibition game, had arthroscopic surgery, and began this season on the disabled list.

The teams combined for 14 runs and 17 hits in the first three innings, which took 1 hour, 55 minutes. Included were five walks, three sacrifice flies, two hit batters and a throwing error by Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell. There were 193 pitches and an Indians official said eight dozen baseballs were used before the fourth inning.

Youkilis' two-run double capped a four-run second as Boston built a 5-1 lead against starter Anthony Reyes.

After Cleveland cut it to 5-3, the Red Sox tacked on two runs in the third, both charged to Reyes. The right-hander faced three batters and didn't get an out before being replaced by Vinnie Chulk.

The Indians tied it at 7 in the third off Brad Penny. Ben Francisco's three-run homer on a 3-2 pitch capped a four-run inning.

Reyes gave up nine hits and seven runs over two innings. Penny allowed seven hits and four runs over 2 2-3 innings.

Penny's ERA went up to 8.66, but the Red Sox have scored 38 runs in his four starts, winning three.

Notes: The Indians are the only team in the majors without a triple. ... RHP Adam Miller, the Indians' first draft pick in 2003, had season-ending and career-threatening surgery on his right middle finger. Miller, whose fastball has been clocked at 100 mph, has yet to make it past Triple-A because of numerous injuries. ... Red Sox RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka, on the DL with a sore shoulder since April 15, threw in the batting cage Tuesday and is expected to have a bullpen session Wednesday.

[Associated Press]

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