Trevor Crowe, Indians lead Orioles, 3-1, through six innings.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- This is a daily briefing of the Indians' 2010 regular season. The Tribe (47-67) plays host to the Baltimore Orioles (40-74) tonight in the finale of a three-game series at Progressive Field.
Pitching matchups: RHP Jeanmar Gomez (2-0, 1.56 ERA) vs. RHP Kevin Millwood (2-11, 5.84).
In-game updates:
The Indians led, 3-1, through six innings.
Michael Brantley opened the first with a single. Asdrubal Cabrera singled. After Shin-Soo Choo flied out, the runners advanced on Shelley Duncan's grounder.
Trevor Crowe grounded into the hole at short, where slick-fielding Cesar Izturis made a backhand stop, planted on the outfield grass and threw hard and on-target. Crowe barely beat it. Orioles manager Buck Showalter briefly discussed the call with umpire Brian O'Nora.
Crowe entered hitting .314 with runners in scoring position.
The Tribe's three hits in the first were one more than its total from Wednesday night's 3-1 loss to Brad Bergesen.
In the second, Lou Marson drove in Jason Donald from third with a grounder. Donald had led off with a single.
Crowe's RBI double in the fifth made it 3-0. Shin-Soo Choo scored from first. Choo had reached by HBP.
The Orioles scored in the sixth on a two-out single by Ty Wigginton.
Gomez gave up the one run on five hits. His fastball is not high-octane, but it is fast enough to keep hitters honest and features late movement.
Pregame notes:
The Orioles, white-hot under manager Buck Showalter, seek a three-game sweep of the Tribe. It would be their first three-game sweep in Cleveland since April 10-12, 1987.
Baltimore has won four straight and is 8-1 since Showalter moved from the ESPN Baseball Tonight studios to manage his fourth club (Yankees, Arizona, Texas). According to Elias Sports Bureau, Showalter is the first manager in major-league history to win at least seven of his first eight after taking over a team in midseason that was at least 20 games under .500.
The Orioles have won eight in a nine-game span for the first time since April 22-May 2, 2005.
A win tonight would tie Showalter with Davey Johnson (1996) for the best 10-game start as manager of the Orioles.
*In the first two games of the series, the Orioles combined for 26 hits and outscored Cleveland, 17-9. Righty Brad Bergesen threw a two-hitter to win, 3-1, Wednesday night -- Baltimore's sixth victory in 61 games when scoring four or fewer runs.
*Millwood went 9-11 with a 2.86 ERA in 30 starts for the Indians in 2005. He won the AL ERA title.
*Indians left fielder Trevor Crowe is starting in the five-hole for the first time this season.
*The Tribe features nine rookies on its active roster.
*Indians right fielder Shin-Soo Choo's .342 average at home ranks fourth in the AL.
*Tribe designated hitter Travis Hafner, on the disabled list since Aug. 3 because of right-shoulder inflammation, will take batting practice Friday.
*Cleveland's lineup tonight has zero .300 hitters and one batter with an average above .264 (Choo, .291).
Lineups:
Baltimore (40-74) -- 1. Brian Roberts 2b; 2. Nick Markakis rf; 3. Ty Wigginton 1b; 4. Luke Scott dh; 5. Adam Jones cf; 6. Felix Pie lf; 7. Matt Wieters c; 8. Cesar Izturis ss; 9. Josh Bell 3b; and Millwood.
Indians (47-67) -- 1. Michael Brantley cf; 2. Asdrubal Cabrera ss; 3. Shin-Soo Choo rf; 4. Shelley Duncan dh; 5. Trevor Crowe lf; 6. Matt LaPorta 1b; 7. Jason Donald 2b; 8. Andy Marte 3b; 9. Lou Marson c; and Gomez.
Umpires:
P -- Lance Barksdale; 1b -- Brian O'Nora; 2b -- Tom Hallion; 3b -- Ron Kulpa.