Once again, the Indians didn't score many runs Thursday night, but fortunately for them, their pitchers didn't give up many. The result was a 3-2 win in 11 innings over the Mariners.
The Indians' daily struggle to mount any kind of offense was the major plot line in this game, as it has been all season. Of particular concern to team officials has to be the fact that the offensive malaise doesn't seem to be getting any better. In fact, it seems to be getting worse. Thursday night, manager Eric Wedge was concerned enough to shake up the lineup. Wedge moved slumping Travis Hafner down three slots, from No. 3 to No. 6.
Casey Blake, who has hit mostly ninth this year, was moved to the No. 2 spot, while David Dellucci, who has hit all over the lineup, was dropped into the No. 3 spot for the first time this season.
The lineup had a different look, but the result was painfully familiar for the Indians, who were held to three runs or less for the 14th time in their 29 games.
INDIANS 3, MARINERS 2 (11 innings): Second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera's bases-loaded single with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning drove in the winning run. Righty Masa Kobayashi got the win, improving his record to 2-0 despite giving up a home run to Richie Sexson leading off the 10th inning that gave Seattle a 2-1 lead.
