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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CLEVELAND (AP) -- The Seattle Mariners will be glad to get out of
Cleveland.
Kenny Lofton homered twice and drove in a career-high six runs
as the Indians handed Seattle its eighth straight loss, 12-4
Sunday.
|  | | Mariners starters, including Aaron Sele, fell to 0-6 with a 9.50 ERA during the team's eight-game losing streak. |
"This streak has been very humbling," Mariners manager Lou
Piniella said. "We got pounded here. I'm glad we have an off day
tomorrow."
Seattle's first-place lead in the AL West dwindled to two games
over Oakland, which won 5-4 at Detroit. The Mariners have allowed
at least nine runs in the last seven losses -- tying a 99-year-old
major league record set by the New York Giants, from Sept. 3-6, 1901.
Seattle last lost eight straight during a club-record 14-game
skid in September 1992.
The Indians completed a three-game sweep and remained one game
behind Oakland in the wild-card race heading into a three-game
series with the Athletics that begins Tuesday night at Jacobs
Field.
"At this point, every game and every series is important,"
Lofton said after hitting two homers in a game for the third time -- but first since June 5, 1995. "We are trying to go out and win
every game because that is the only way we are going to stay in
this race."
Lofton hit the second pitch from Aaron Sele (13-8) over the
right-field wall. That gave him homers in three consecutive games
for the first time.
"Kenny is muscling up, man," manager Charlie Manuel said.
"He's swinging good and being aggressive at the plate."
Lofton continued his power surge in the third with his 11th
homer, a line-drive grand slam down the right-field line that made
it 5-0.
"When you make good pitches, good things happen," Sele said.
"I didn't make good pitches and he made me pay for it."
Travis Fryman, who went 3-for-4, had an RBI single in the third,
and Lofton drew a bases-loaded walk later in the inning to make it
7-0.
Dave Burba (11-5) won for the first time since July 23. The
right-hander allowed two runs and 10 hits in seven innings.
"After getting a 9-0 lead, all I wanted to do was go out and
throw strikes," Burba said. "At one point on the mound, I
thought, 'Why can't it always be this easy?' "
Sele yielded seven runs and seven hits in 2 2/3 innings. Seattle
starters fell to 0-6 with a 9.50 ERA during the Mariners'
eight-game skid.
Wil Cordero went 4-for-5 with three RBI. He singled in two runs
off Brett Tomko to make it 9-0 in the fourth and added an RBI
double in the eighth.
Consecutive run-scoring singles by Jim Thome and David Segui
made it 11-0 in the fifth.
John Olerud and Dan Wilson each singled in runs with two outs in
the Seattle sixth. Edgar Martinez had a two-run double in the
ninth.
Game notes
A wayward squirrel delayed the game five minutes in the top
of the second, zigzagging across the infield and into the outfield.
Fans and players roared with laughter as the rodent eluded Indians
SS Omar Vizquel and then policemen and ballboys, who finally chased
it through a doorway under the left-field bleachers. ... Lofton led
off a game with a homer for the 18th time. The grand slam was his
second. His other came June 29, 1993 against the White Sox. ... The
Indians last three-game sweep of the Mariners in Cleveland came
during Seattle's 14-game skid in 1992. ... Cleveland is 16-5 at
home since July 2.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Seattle Clubhouse
Cleveland Clubhouse
RECAPS
Cleveland 12
Seattle 4
Oakland 5
Detroit 4
Anaheim 5
NY Yankees 4
Toronto 6
Minnesota 3
Baltimore 2
Kansas City 1
Tampa Bay 12
Chi. White Sox 11
Texas 6
Boston 2
Pittsburgh 7
Cincinnati 3
Philadelphia 6
St. Louis 0
Colorado 13
Florida 4
Milwaukee 6
Houston 5
Atlanta 8
San Francisco 5
NY Mets 9
Los Angeles 6
Arizona 5
Chicago Cubs 4
San Diego 5
Montreal 4
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