Tribe ruins Mariners' day
7/27/2009SEATTLE - Grady Sizemore hit the 20th leadoff homer of his career, Jhonny Peralta hit his second career grand slam, and the Cleveland Indians drove four long balls in a 12-3 win over the the Seattle Mariners Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.
Seattle entered the weekend with optimism about its chances in both the AL West and wild card races after a 5-2 road trip after the All-Star break.
Cleveland arrived in Seattle complaining about its lack of offense and extra-base hits.
They left after hitting 11 homers, scoring 31 runs, collecting 39 hits, and sweeping the Mariners in Seattle for the first time in 11 years.
They are dealing with the trade debate themselves. Reigning AL Cy Young winner Cliff Lee won his third straight decision, yet still is linked to trade rumors. from one coast to the other.
"It's kind of pointless to waste time thinking about it because I have zero control over it," Lee said after improving to 7-9 on the season. "Now I'm an Indian and that's where my focus is."
Facing its eighth straight lefty starter in Seattle's Jason Vargas, Sizemore lined the sixth pitch of the game into the right field seats for his 14th homer of the season. Peralta broke the game open with his grand slam in the fifth that greeted reliever Shawn Kelley.
It was Peralta's seventh homer this season and first since July 8. And Travis Hafner and Ben Francisco added back-to-back shots in the sixth off Miguel Batista that brought a cascade of boos.
About the only positive from Sunday was Seattle didn't lose any more ground in the AL West (7 1/2 back of the Angels) or the Wild Card (6 1/2 behind Boston).
Lee (7-9) gave up a pair of first-inning runs on Franklin Gutierrez's two-out single before retiring the next 13 straight. He gave up just six hits and two runs, while striking out four.