Tribe's Pavano wins third straight start

Shortstop Jhonny Peralta hits a two-run single in the fourth inning Monday night. The Indians broke a team slump with 13 hits.

CLEVELAND - Carl Pavano won his third straight start and the Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox 9-4 Monday night to snap a four-game losing streak.

Pavano (3-3) allowed four runs and 10 hits over 61/3 innings in his first appearance against the White Sox in nearly five years. The right-hander didn't issue a walk and struck out three.

Shin-Soo Choo and Jhonny Peralta drove in three runs apiece for Cleveland, which totaled 13 hits and scored three more runs than it did during its four-game slide.

Chicago lost for the seventh time in nine games as Gavin Floyd (2-3) gave up eight runs and 11 hits over five innings. The right-hander is 0-2 with a 9.73 ERA in four starts since April 19.

The last time Pavano faced Chicago he pitched a three-hit shutout on June 16, 2004, for Florida on the way to an 18-8 record. He signed a four-year contract worth nearly $40 million with the New York Yankees, but spent most of his time on the disabled list and had only nine wins before getting a one-year, $1.5 million deal with Cleveland in January.

The Indians built a 6-0 lead through four innings despite wasting some scoring chances. They had runners at second and third with one out in a two-run first and left them stranded. They had two on and none out in the second and didn't score.

Choo had an RBI single and Mark DeRosa an RBI double in Cleveland's two-run first.

Choo's bases-loaded single scored two to make it 4-0 in the fourth. Floyd then hit DeRosa in the left forearm with a pitch to reload the bases, and Peralta followed with a two-run single to center.

A.J. Pierzynski had an RBI single in Chicago's two-run fifth. DeRosa at third made a diving backhand stop of a sharp grounder by Alexi Ramirez to prevent more damage. Ramirez got an RBI, but was thrown out at first.

Victor Martinez and Peralta had RBI singles and Ryan Garko a sacrifice fly as Cleveland took a 9-2 lead in the sixth.

Josh Fields and Ramirez each singled home runs in Chicago's seventh.

Rather than spend time worrying about his job status, Cleveland Indians manager Eric Wedge is thinking about tinkering with the lineup.

The Indians went into last night's game against Chicago at 11-21.

"It is my fault," Wedge said. "I'm not playing, but I take full responsibility when things are not going well. And we are a better team than we have shown.

"My situation is not something I spend time on. My entire energy is on getting guys back on track."

Wedge said he won't hide behind injuries, or point fingers at particular areas of the team. He did emphasize that he has told players they have no excuses, either.

"I believe in these guys, but we have to do better," Wedge said. "And it has to start now. Not the next game, not the next inning. I'm not saying that if we don't win immediately, it is never going to happen. I am saying that focusing on the moment at hand will pay off."

Wedge met with GM Mark Shapiro and the coaching staff to discuss all aspects of the club. He's even considered dropping leadoff hitter Grady Sizemore down in the lineup.

"Just me saying I've thought about it tells you where we are," said Wedge, who has steadfastly refused in recent years to drop the power-hitting all-star outfielder out of the leadoff spot. "Grady is struggling, but you know what? He's such a hard worker and such a talent that all it might take is one swing, one at-bat, and off he goes."

A 4-for-26 streak has sent Sizemore's average tumbling to .226.