Game #82: Francisco and Sizemore Provide Fireworks in 5-2 Win

The homestand that stated so badly appears to be headed for a bright ending, as for the second straight day the Indians nicely dispatched the awful Oakland A’s, topping them with a 5-2 win to improve to 33-49 on the season. It’s the teams second straight win after a five-game losing streak that had the entire organization pulling its hair out.
The long ball was the teams best friend on this 4th of July night, as Ben Francisco went deep off of A’s starter Vin Mazzaro in the third inning to give the Tribe a 3-1 lead. Grady Sizemore went deep in the 6th to pad the lead to 4-1. The Indians allowed a run in the 7th to make it 4-2, but then Sizemore got a RBI ground out in the 7th to push the lead to the final of 5-2.
For Francisco, he went 3-for-3 to push his average to .246 on the year. His homer was his 6th of the season and he also stole third. Sizemore’s blast was his 11th of the season, and he went 2-for-4 with two RBI and is batting .230 on the season. The Indians pounded out 10 hits to the A’s 8.
Carl Pavano was not spectacular, but was good enough to get the win to improve to 7-7 on the season. He allowed a run in the first, but then settled down and went 6.2 innings, allowing two runs on 8 hits with two walks and three strikeouts. His ERA drops to 5.36 on the season. Tony Sipp, Joe Smith and Kerry Wood rounded out the night on the mound for the Indians, with Wood earning his 10th save.
If the Indians can complete the sweep of the A’s Sunday, they will wrap up the homestand 4-5. While it’s still under .500, considering they were 1-2 vs the Reds and then were swept by the White Sox, they will take it. Sunday is also a shot for Cliff Lee to get on track after his awful outing last week vs the Sox. He’ll go for the Indians vs Gio Gonzalez (0-2, 7.27).








Matt has covered Major League Baseball and the "other two" Pro teams in Cleveland since 1994. He has been on the beat of the Indians in full-time mode since 1996, working for various raido and print networks around the country.