The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA – Ryan Howard had barely made the short trip to the dugout from first base when gusting wind and rain enveloped Citizens Bank Park.

“It was like a tornado came,” Howard said. “I was waiting for the cow to fly through. The winds were really swirling.”

Waiting through the mid-afternoon storm was all that remained for the Philadelphia Phillies to complete a 12-3 rout of Fausto Carmona and the Cleveland Indians to complete a three-game sweep Thursday.

Placido Polanco had four hits, Chase Utley and Jayson Werth each had three hits and catcher Dane Sardinha connected for his first career home run for the Phillies. It was Philadelphia’s highest offensive output since scoring 12 runs against Pittsburgh on May 17. Every Phillie scored and reached base at least once.

Joe Blanton pitched effectively into the eighth inning – his second straight strong outing – and might have gone the distance if not for the thunderstorm that pounded the field with two outs in the eighth. It caused a delay of 1 hour, 37 minutes, and fierce winds made putting the tarp on the field difficult for the grounds’ crew, but cooled off a 96-degree day.

“It reminded me of back home (in Illinois),” Werth said. “It was like a real tornado.”

The Phillies roughed up Cleveland’s best pitcher to record their sixth win in eight games. They had two five-run innings, and the 15 hits was their most since recording 17 on May 15 at Milwaukee.

In dropping its fifth straight game, Cleveland showed its ineptitude during a five-run second inning that began with singles by Werth, Raul Ibanez and Wilson Valdez.

Sardinha then grounded to third baseman Andy Marte, but his throw home went off catcher Carlos Santana’s glove and rolled to the backstop for the rookie’s first error, allowing two runs to score.

“Today they just blew us away,” Indians manager Manny Acta said. “They showed why they’ve been in the World Series the past two years.”

Carmona hit Blanton with a pitch to reload the bases. Shane Victorino drove in a run with a groundout, and Polanco singled in a run. Blanton scored the fifth run on a sacrifice fly.

Carmona lasted four-plus innings, and gave up seven runs – five earned – on nine hits. He walked none and didn’t strike out a batter. Carmona allowed five or more earned runs for the only the second time in his 15 starts.

“I felt OK,” he said. “I don’t know what happened today.”

Blanton (3-5) cruised with the run support, tossing a season-high 7 2-3 innings. He allowed three runs and six hits, while walking none and striking out eight. His faltered in the fifth, when Jason Donald hit a two-run home run. Donald had three of Cleveland’s six hits.

After a poor stretch that saw his ERA rise to a season-worst 7.28, the right-hander had surrendered three runs in each of his last two outings.

“I changed some things mechanically and am keeping the ball down more,” Blanton said. “I just want to keep progressing with every start.”

Nelson Figueroa got four outs for the Phillies.

Werth has been especially hot for Philadelphia, going 15 for 38 (.395) in his previous 12 games, after a 3-for-41 (.073) slump. He had three hits for the second straight game.

He said he watched video of a good stretch from last season, and went back to a more balanced stance.

“I was messing around with some different stances,” he said. “I did that last year at some point. It helped get me out of wherever I was.”

Cleveland claimed infielder Jayson Nix off waivers from the Chicago White Sox and added him to the major league roster. The team also optioned infielder Luis Valbuena and right-hander Jensen Lewis to Triple-A Columbus, and designated RHP Shane Lindsay for assignment to make room for Nix on the 40-man roster.

PHILADELPHIA – Jimmy Rollins took a big swing, stood at home plate and watched the ball soar into the seats. Before he even reached first base, the dugout had already emptied and his teammates were waiting for him.

Rollins hit the first game-ending homer of his career, a two-run shot with one out in the ninth inning Wednesday night that lifted the Philadelphia Phillies over the Cleveland Indians 7-6.

“I never saw a crowd like that coming around third base,” Rollins said. “I didn’t know what to do. I thought about sliding.”

Rollins was mobbed by his teammates and got a knuckle noogie on his shaved head from manager Charlie Manuel. Then he took a shaving cream pie to the face from Shane Victorino while doing an interview.

“It felt good,” Rollins said. “It was one of those moments.”

Trailing 6-5, the Phillies rallied against Kerry Wood (1-3). Brian Schneider led off with a walk and pinch-runner Wilson Valdez advanced to second on a groundout.

Rollins then hit a liner inside the right-field foul pole to win it. The 2007 NL MVP was 0-for-8 since returning from his second stint on the disabled list. He’s played in only 14 games this season because of a calf injury.

“He said, ‘I got one, didn’t I?”‘ Manuel said. “He was very happy about it.”

Schneider and Jayson Werth added solo homers for the Phillies.

Shin-soo Choo hit two two-run homers for the Indians.

“I talked to the hitting coach before the game because I hadn’t hit a homer in two weeks,” Choo said. “The balls fly out of here.”

The Indians went ahead 6-5 in the ninth off J.C. Romero (1-0). With runners at second and third and the infield drawn in, Carlos Santana hit a hard one-hopper to shortstop. Rollins made a diving backhanded stop, but the throw home from his knees skipped past Schneider for an error and Trevor Crowe scored standing.

The two-time NL champion Phillies are 6-3 since a 5-14 skid. Cleveland, which has the second-worst record in the AL, has lost four straight.

Neither starter pitched well. Jake Westbrook gave up four runs and seven hits in five innings for the Indians. Philadelphia’s Kyle Kendrick allowed four earned runs and six hits in four-plus innings.

“I wasn’t good,” Kendrick said. “I fell behind hitters. I didn’t do my job. It’s frustrating.”

The Phillies tied it at 1 when Schneider hit reliever Frank Herrmann’s first pitch into the seats in right-center leading off the bottom of the seventh. It was the catcher’s first homer with the Phillies.

Choo put the Indians ahead 5-4 with his second homer in the fifth after Raul Ibanez hit a two-run double to give Philadelphia its first lead in the fourth.

Crowe reached on second baseman Chase Utley’s fielding error before Choo hit an opposite-field drive to left-center. Santana followed with a double to chase Kendrick. But Santana was thrown out trying to score on Ibanez’s perfect one-hop strike to the plate after Jhonny Peralta singled to left.

The Phillies had runners on first and third with two outs in the sixth when pitcher Tony Sipp picked Victorino off first. Victorino got caught in a rundown while Ryan Howard broke toward the plate. He charged into Santana, who made the tag and sidestepped the big slugger.

Choo drove an 0-2 pitch into the second deck in right field to put Cleveland ahead 2-0 in the first.

Werth hit his 13th homer to tie it at 2 in the second.

Notable

Victorino was caught trying to steal second base in the second, ending Philadelphia’s string of 18 consecutive steals.

• Choo has four career multihomer games, including two this season. … Phillies LHP J.A. Happ gave up three runs in five innings in a rehab start at Double-A Reading.

• A crowd of 44,510 was the 76th consecutive sellout at Citizens Bank Park.

TODAY

• WHO: Cleveland at Philadelphia
• TIME: 1:05 p.m.
• WHERE: Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia
• PITCHERS: Carmona (6-5, 3.31 ERA) vs. Blanton (2-5, 6.96)
• TV/RADIO: SportsTime Ohio; WEOL 930-AM, WTAM 1100-AM

PHILADELPHIA – Jamie Moyer shrugged it off. Nothing was going to bother him on this night.

Moyer tied the record for most homers allowed by surrendering his 505th long ball but that was his only blemish in eight crisp innings as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cleveland Indians 2-1 on Tuesday.

Russell Branyan went deep for Cleveland in the second, hitting a long drive to the second deck in right that left Moyer tied with former Phillies great Robin Roberts for most homers allowed all time.

Ho-hum. Just a small blip in another crafty game by the 47-year-old left-hander.

“If you’re around long enough stuff like this happens,” Moyer said. “I always had a lot of respect for Robin.”

Moyer (8-6) limited the Tribe to just two hits while earning win No. 266, tying him with Bob Feller and Eppa Rixey for 35th on the career list. The soft-tossing veteran recorded 14 of his 24 outs on groundballs and has pitched at least eight innings in three of his last four starts, winning three of them.

“We didn’t take good swings off Moyer and he flat-out toyed with us,” Indians manager Manny Acta said. “It’s amazing what he’s doing at his age at this level.”

J.C. Romero relieved Moyer for the ninth but was replaced by Brad Lidge after the Indians put runners on first and second with one out. Lidge then struck out Austin Kearns and Jhonny Peralta, completing the three-hitter and earning his fifth save in six tries.

Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel grew testy when asked after the game about his bullpen use, stating firmly that Lidge is the closer.

Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins came off the disabled list and went 0-for-4 in the leadoff spot. Rollins has been hampered by an injured right calf.

“Jimmy did pretty good,” Manuel said. “He made a couple of good plays in the field. Of course, he can hit better.”

Mitch Talbot (7-6), coming off the worst start of his career, allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings for Cleveland. The rookie right-hander was tagged for eight runs and 13 hits over 52/3 innings in his last outing, an 8-4 loss to the Mets last Wednesday.

“I thought Mitch did a very good job,” Acta said. “He made a lot of good pitches when he had to.”

Philadelphia, which managed just four hits for the second straight game, got both of its runs in the first. Ryan Howard singled in Placido Polanco and Jayson Werth drove in Chase Utley with a sacrifice fly to center.

Trevor Crowe reached on an infield single in the sixth and Shin-Soo Choo singled in the ninth for Cleveland’s other hits.

The Phillies almost had another run in the fourth but Raul Ibanez was called for interfering with Indians shortstop Anderson Hernandez on a double-play attempt. Shane Victorino beat Hernandez’s throw to first and Werth crossed the plate, but second base umpire Sam Holbrook called Ibanez out for leaving the basepath, ending the inning.

Manuel came out to argue and was ejected.

“That was a weak call,” Manuel said. “I think (Holbrook) should’ve let us play the game. He said Raul didn’t hit the bag.”

Rollins, a three-time Gold Glove winner, had a solid night in the field, including making a superb play on Kearns’ second-inning grounder. He sprinted hard to his left to get the ball up the middle, wheeled and made a strong throw to first that beat Kearns by a step.

TONIGHT

• WHO: Cleveland at Philadelphia
• TIME: 7:05
• WHERE: Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia
• PITCHERS: Westbrook (4-4, 4.76 ERA) vs. Kendrick (4-2, 4.48)
• TV/RADIO: SportsTime Ohio; WEOL 930-AM, WTAM 1100-AM

ELYRIA — Convicted killer Neil Simpson spat in the face of a juror before launching into an expletive-laden tirade as he was hustled out of the courtroom Monday — the first day of a hearing in which jurors will decide whether or not he should receive the death penalty for the 2007 shooting death of Granny D’s Pizza owner David Kowalczyk.

When he returned to court later Monday, Simpson’s head and face were covered in a mosquito netting-like “spit mask.”

“I was unhappy with the verdict,” Simpson said to Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Mark Betleski. “I told you before I didn’t kill that man.”
Simpson also told Betleski that he meant to no disrespect to the court or the deputies charged with courthouse security.

After he was removed from the courtroom earlier, Simpson told deputies something similar, Lorain police Detective Steyven Curry testified. As soon as he was out of the courtroom, Simpson immediately calmed down, Curry said.

That was proof, Assistant County Prosecutor Tony Cillo said, that Simpson had planned to spit on jurors, who returned guilty verdicts on aggravated murder and other charges in March.

Just before Simpson walked toward the witness stand, a route that took him directly past the jury, Betleski had asked him if he wanted to make a statement from the table where he and his attorneys were sitting or from the witness stand.

Simpson, who was wearing a jail uniform and shackles at his own request, said he wanted to speak from the stand and was walking past the jury when he turned and spat directly into the face of a juror. Spittle appeared to hit another juror as well, but defense attorney Mike Camera said only one juror told Betleski he had been hit.

As soon as the spit left Simpson’s mouth, which drew a shocked gasp from many in the courtroom, deputies grabbed him and forced him out of the room.

“I don’t think his outburst helped his case,” Camera said later.

Betleski later called each juror into a private meeting with himself and attorneys in the case to discuss whether they could remain fair and impartial. He said all 14 jurors — 12 who made the decision to convict Simpson during his March trial and two alternates — said they wouldn’t let the incident affect their judgment.
Betleski rejected a request from Simpson’s other attorney, David Doughten, to declare a mistrial.

“The general law is the defendant cannot take an action and then claim that action as a reason for mistrial,” Camera said.

Betleski also said that Simpson would not be allowed in the courtroom when the hearing resumes today. Instead, Simpson and Camera will watch the proceedings from the county jail and communicate with Doughten via telephone.

Betleski said he couldn’t rely on Simpson’s assurances that there would be no further trouble during the hearing. He said he also factored homemade knives found in Simpson’s cell a few weeks ago into his decision to bar Simpson from the courtroom.

Simpson’s outburst also cost him several witnesses who had been expected to testify on his behalf. Doughten said several of Simpson’s family members and friends had been prepared to testify about the difficulties he’s faced in life, including his limited intelligence. Those people no longer wanted to testify, Doughten said, and Simpson no longer wanted them to.

Instead, Simpson’s only witnesses will be two mental health experts who have examined Simpson and determined that he suffers from antisocial personality disorder, which is also commonly referred to as sociopathic personality disorder or psychopathy.

A videotaped deposition of Simpson’s aunt also will be played for the jury, Doughten said.

County Prosecutor Dennis Will declined to comment on the incident or whether Simpson will face charges for spitting on the juror.

This isn’t the first time Simpson has created controversy since his arrest in connection with the Granny D’s murder and three other Lorain robberies in June 2006.

He has also demanded that the charges against him be dropped and he be given $170,000 from the county in exchange for not suing prosecutors, Betleski and police. He also has asked for a week-long conjugal visit with his wife and that Cillo take over as his defense lawyer.

None of those requests has been granted.

Contact Brad Dicken at 329-7147 or bdicken@chroniclet.com.