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  Thursday, Apr. 20 7:05pm ET
Indians break out of slump, KO Hudson
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

CLEVELAND (AP) -- The Indians picked the right time to finally start hitting again.

Pedro's on deck.

Kenny Lofton and Jim Thome homered in the first and Dave Burba pitched five innings before the rain came Thursday night as Cleveland avoided a sweep with a 9-5 win over the Oakland Athletics.

Lofton's leadoff homer, Thome's two-run shot off Tim Hudson (1-2) and Manny Ramirez's two-run homer in the seventh enabled the Indians to salvage the series finale and conclude a season-opening homestand at 2-4.

"We swung the bats better tonight and got the big hits," said Thome. "We didn't get the big hits most of the homestand, so it means a lot to do that tonight."

Cleveland came into the game in a team-wide offensive funk, batting just .215 in its first five dates at Jacobs Field, usually a place where they tee off on opposing pitchers.

But the Indians got 14 hits, giving them some momentum and confidence as they prepare to face Pedro Martinez in Boston on Friday night. Cleveland hasn't played at Fenway Park since being bludgeoned 23-7 by the Red Sox in Game 4 of the AL playoffs last October when Boston overcame a 2-0 deficit to win the series.

"I think we can get Pedro," said Indians manager Charlie Manuel. "If we have the right kind of attitude we can beat him."

Roberto Alomar, who was bothered by a stiff neck to start the season, went 3-for-4 -- he also hit a line drive off Hudson's chest that forced him to leave.

"I'm swinging the bat much better now," Alomar said. "My neck feels better and that makes a big difference."

Oakland's John Jaha tied a major league record by striking out five times in a nine-inning game. Jaha is the 38th player in history to match the dubious feat and first since Thome, who struck out five times against Tampa Bay on April 9.

Burba (2-1) bounced back from a rough start against Texas by striking out nine. He didn't return after the game was delayed for 1 hour, 42 minutes in the top of the sixth.

"The difference between this start and the last one was that I was throwing my splitter really well," said Burba.

The A's thought so, too.

"Burba threw a great split tonight," Matt Stairs said. "He kept us off balance. He seems to have changed his style of pitching. I remember him with a good fastball and overhand curve. Now he has this good pitch, too."

The A's loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth off Scott Kamieniecki, who grabbed Ryan Christenson's hard liner to end the inning and slammed the ball off the mound in disgust.

He was pounding his glove an inning later when Matt Stairs hit a two-run homer to bring Oakland within 6-4. But Ricardo Rincon came in with a runner on and struck out Ben Grieve and Eric Chavez.

Ramirez hit his fifth homer in the seventh off T.J. Mathews and Jacob Cruz added an RBI to put Cleveland ahead 9-4.

Hudson left in the third inning with a bruised chest after being struck by Alomar's liner.

With one out and a runner on first, Alomar sent a drive that nailed Hudson as the right-hander was making his follow-through. Hudson grabbed his chest and squatted down behind the mound in pain as the ball rolled into right field and Alomar reached first.

"I think he dodged a bullet there," said A's manager Art Howe. "A couple of inches higher and it hits his collarbone. It hit all meat."

Hudson was replaced by Ron Mahay, who gave up an RBI groundout to Ramirez as the Indians opened a 4-2 lead.

Game notes
Rincon, who struggled all last year, has not allowed a run in his first six appearances. ... Oakland has had five players strike out five times in a game. Jose Canseco was the last A's player to do so on July 16, 1997, against Kansas City. ... A's hitters have 101 strikeouts in their last 10 games. ... Alomar made his third error in five games. He had a 65-game errorless streak last season and made just three errors in his last 92 games. ... Lofton has homered leading off a game 17 times during the regular season in his career and once in the postseason. ... Bobby Witt will make his first start for the Indians on Friday night in Boston against Martinez. Witt, who unexpectedly made Cleveland's staff after being invited to spring training as a non-roster player, is 12-5 in his career against the Red Sox.

 


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Cleveland 9
Oakland 5

Boston 0
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