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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CLEVELAND (AP) – Omar Vizquel kissed one goodbye and then got
smooched by Dave Burba.
|  | | Omar Vizquel's first home run of the season, a solo shot in the seventh, helped Indians starter Dave Burba win his 100th game. |
Vizquel connected for his first homer of the season in the
seventh inning to give Burba his 100th career victory and the
Cleveland Indians extended their winning streak to nine games with
an 8-4 win over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night.
After rounding the bases, Vizquel was greeted at the dugout
steps by Burba, who planted a big kiss on his shortstop.
"Like I said, I got pretty excited," said Burba, who expects
to get some kind of fine from the Indians' Kangaroo Kourt. "I
would imagine something is going to happen, but I don't really
care. I'll apologize to Omar if I have to."
Jim Thome and Juan Gonzalez each added a three-run homer for the
Indians, who rallied from a 4-0 deficit and improved their longest
winning streak since 1995 when they ran away with the AL Central.
The Indians, who have won 18 of 22, could threaten the club
record of 13 straight wins this week with two games remaining
against the Royals and three with Tampa Bay.
"No pressure at all," Vizquel said.
Burba (5-1) was one out away from a no-decision when Vizquel
walked to the plate in a 4-4 game to face Royals reliever Tony
Cogan (0-2).
Vizquel said he was a little down after being picked off base
earlier in the game and Indians manager Charlie Manuel gave him a
pep talk.
"Charlie said to me, 'One swing and you can be a hero,' "
Vizquel said. "I gave him one of those 'Whatever' smiles. But he
was right."
Vizquel's first homer since Aug. 27 was just the switch-hitting
shortstop's 15th in 1,615 career at-bats right-handed and when he
got back to the bench, Burba was ready for him.
"I think I kissed Omar once before maybe in '98 or '99," Burba
said. "He just smiled. I think he was as happy as I was."
Two batters later, Thome kissed one of Henry's fastballs over
the center-field wall for his fourth homer. Thome's 237th career
homer moved him past Manny Ramirez into second place on the
Indians' all-time list. Albert Belle holds the club record with 242
homers.
Burba recovered from an awful, 37-pitch first inning when he
gave up four runs and five hits. The Royals opened the second with
two hits, but Burba who typically struggles for at least one inning
early on, retired 18 of the last 19, including the final 13 Royals.
"A lot of pitchers start slow," Kansas City manager Tony Muser
said, "but you know Burba is not going to give in. He toughed it
out."
The Indians, who just completed a 6-0 road trip to Kansas City
and Tampa Bay, have scored 81 runs during their winning streak.
Gonzalez's three-run homer, his 10th – and seventh at home – got
the Indians right back in it after the Royals scored four runs in
the first.
Kenny Lofton walked, stole second and Roberto Alomar singled
before Gonzalez drove a 1-1 pitch from Mac Suzuki into the
left-field seats, giving him 22 RBI in his last 16 games.
"I hung a split to Gonzalez," Suzuki said. "What a mistake."
The Indians tied it 4-4 in the second with an unearned run when
second baseman Luis Alicea threw away a potential double-play ball.
Burba fell behind 4-0 in the first when two grounders that
normally get scooped up by Vizquel and Alomar got through the
infield for hits.
Mike Sweeney hit a hard shot up the middle that took a high hop
on Vizquel, who would have probably turned a double play but the
ball skipped into center for an RBI-single.
Jermaine Dye's fielder's choice brought in another run and Dee
Brown and Alicea hit RBI-singles.
Game notes
Burba celebrated win No. 100 with champagne in the
clubhouse and said he kept the lineup card as a souvenir. ...
Royals 1B Mike Sweeney went 1-for-4 and is hitting just .176
(9-for-51) vs. AL Central teams. ... Gonzalez has 19 homers in 45
career games at Jacobs Field. His homer in the first came just
moments after the left-field scoreboard showed that Ramirez hit a
two-run homer in Boston. ... Cleveland's Marty Cordova is batting
.423 (22-of-52) during his 13-game hitting streak. ... The Royals
have 27 doubles in their last 12 games after hitting just 23 in
their first 20.
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OTHER GAMES
Baseball Scoreboard
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Cleveland Clubhouse
RECAPS
Boston 12
Seattle 4
Cleveland 8
Kansas City 4
Detroit 5
Texas 4
Minnesota 2
NY Yankees 0
Oakland 8
Toronto 5
Tampa Bay 4
Baltimore 3
Chi. White Sox 2
Anaheim 0
Philadelphia 3
Houston 2
Milwaukee 4
Chicago Cubs 1
St. Louis 8
Pittsburgh 2
Colorado 12
NY Mets 4
Arizona 4
Cincinnati 3
San Diego 7
Atlanta 1
Florida 7
Los Angeles 6
San Francisco 9
Montreal 1
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