Indians Slug their way to First-Place Tie

September  20 at Chicago – Carlos Lee doubled off the LF wall to score Paul Konerko in the 10^th to lift 2000 Chicago to a 3-2 win over 2005 Cleveland. Jake Westbrook and Mike Sirotka were dealing zeros until the 7^th when Herbert Perry (3) and Chris Singleton (2) went yard for a 2-0 White Sox lead. The Indians tied it with 2 in the 9^th off closer Keith Foulke. Victor Martinez (4) led off with a long bomb. With 2 outs Casey Blake doubled in PR Alex Cora. Mark Buehrle (3-0) got the win in relief. Bob Wickman (1-1) took the loss.

September 21 at Chicago – Tribe batsmen were busy in this one, banging out 14 hits and scoring single runs in 5 of the 9 innings for a 5-3 victory to even the series. Jose Hernandez (4) led the way, going 4-4 with a solo homer. Travis Hafner drove in 3 with 3 knocks. Everyone’s favorite cereal, Coco Crisp had 3 safeties. Lee (3) and Frank Thomas (7) went deep for Chicago. Scott Elarton (3-2) pitched 7 complete with just 1 earned run against him. Wickman (6) notched the save. Jim Parque (3-2) started and lost for the ChiSox.   

September 22 at Chicago – Aaron Boone and the Indians made a very loud statement when they tallied 3 touchdowns to just one for Chicago. No typo; Cleveland moved into a first place tie with the Pale Hose (both 19-17) in the AL Central Division with a dominating 21-7 performance. Boone (4,5,6) crushed 4 hits with only one staying in the ballpark. His RBI total alone added up to a TD and PAT -- All this from the 9^th spot in the batting order. Hafner (7), Martinez (5), Blake (4) and Grady Sizemore (2) also left the yard. All Tribesmen had at least 1 hit with Ron Belliard knocking in 4 runs with 3 hits. Jeff Abbott (1), Ray Durham (1) and Konerko (3) homered for Chicago, making a total of 10 bombs that hit the seats this day. Cleveland starter Cliff Lee (4-2) was the biggest beneficiary of the spoils.