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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Standing in the middle of a barren Cleveland
clubhouse, Russell Branyan wondered if it might not be too late to
call back the furniture movers.
Branyan hit a three-run homer to highlight Cleveland's six-run
fifth inning Wednesday night as the Indians rolled to a 15-7 rout
of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Branyan's third homer in two games put the Indians up 8-7,
enabling them to come all the way back from a 5-0 deficit and
sending Cleveland to its first three-game winning streak since June
5-7.
|  | | Cleveland's Jim Thome doubles in the seventh inning, scoring Roberto Alomar and Ricky Ledee. |
The Indians have won two straight following manager Charlie
Manuel's order to have two leather couches and a Ping-Pong table
removed from Cleveland's clubhouse, a move he hoped would get his
team focused.
"Can we get our couch back now?" Branyan joked. "We got three
in a row. Maybe we can get six or seven and we'll get rid of this
big-screen TV."
Kenny Lofton, Roberto Alomar and Jim Thome had two RBI each for
the Indians, who overcame a season-high 10 walks by scoring 15 runs
on 15 hits in a four-inning span.
Cleveland scored four runs in the fourth, six in the fifth --
four off Paul Quantrill (0-4) -- and five more in the seventh for
its highest run total since May 11.
"We stayed after them," Manuel said. "When they were up 5-0,
we didn't lay down."
Jamie Brewington (2-0) got out of a jam in the fifth and pitched
2 2/3 hitless innings. Before the right-hander entered the game,
Indians starter Jim Brower and reliever Brian Williams had walked
nine in just over three innings.
"We've got a lot of sock on this team," said Brewington, who
is holding opponents to a .185 average. "If we can hold them good
things can happen."
The Indians, who haven't been unable to manufacture runs like
they have in the past, scored four runs in the fourth against
starter Roy Halladay on a walk, a wild pitch, four singles, an RBI
groundout and a sacrifice fly.
That's hardly the way Cleveland did it last year when it scored
1,009 runs, but Branyan's 417-foot shot, a high drive to right in
the fifth, reminded Indians fans of the way it used to be.
Trailing 7-4, Omar Vizquel walked to open the fifth, moved up on
a fielder's choice and passed ball and scored on Halladay's wild
pitch.
Thome's single chased Halladay, and Travis Fryman greeted
Quantrill with a single. Branyan then made it 8-7 with his 11th
homer in 76 at-bats this season.
"We can't punch the clock and say this is the way we're going
to do it everyday," Branyan said. "We can't get that far
behind."
Lofton, on a tear since being moved down in the Indians' lineup,
hit an RBI triple and Alex Ramirez had a run-scoring single to cap
the six-run outburst.
Alomar and Thome each hit two-run doubles off Matt DeWitt in the
seventh.
Indians starter Jim Brower couldn't find the strike zone during
his 1 2-3 innings, walking three in the first and second innings
before finally getting yanked.
Two of those walks in the first scored on Brad Fullmer's
two-run, bases-loaded single.
"We went up 5-0 and they came back," Toronto manager Jim
Fregosi said. "We just couldn't hold them. We didn't throw enough
quality strikes."
Homer Bush, Toronto's No. 9 hitter and a .193 hitter coming in,
drew a leadoff walk in the second and Brower also walked Shannon
Stewart. Both eventually scored when Alex Gonzalez singled and Raul
Mondesi hit into a fielder's choice.
Game notes
The Blue Jays have given up 10 or more runs 18 times this
season. They're 3-15 in those games. ... One reason for Toronto's
3-6 mark on its current road trip is a 7.20 ERA. ... Blue Jays 3B
Tony Batista, left off the All-Star team despite 24 homers and 68
RBIs, extended his hitting streak to a season-high 10 games. ...
Despite being selected as an All-Star, Indians LHP Chuck Finley
declined to comment about the honor. ... Indians 3B Travis Fryman,
who did talk to reporters after being selected as an All-Star
reserve, had his career-best, 60-game errorless streak snapped when
he booted Batista's grounder in the fourth. ... Branyan is the
fifth Indians rookie since 1981 to hit 10 homers or more.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Toronto Clubhouse
Cleveland Clubhouse
RECAPS
Cleveland 15
Toronto 7
NY Yankees 12
Baltimore 6
Tampa Bay 4
Detroit 1
Chi. White Sox 6
Kansas City 3
Boston 11
Minnesota 8
Texas 9
Oakland 4
Seattle 6
Anaheim 4
Pittsburgh 9
Chicago Cubs 6
San Francisco 4
Colorado 2
NY Mets 11
Florida 2
St. Louis 4
Cincinnati 3
Montreal 6
Atlanta 5
Arizona 12
Houston 9
Philadelphia 5
Milwaukee 2
Los Angeles 7
San Diego 5
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