BALTIMORE — Another fielding gem by Asdrubal Cabrera and a three-run first inning turned out to be the highlights of a frustrating game for the Cleveland Indians, who ended up lamenting several missed opportunities and another knee injury to Grady Sizemore.

Grady Sizemore (24) slides into second with a double in front of Baltimore Orioles second baseman Robert Andino (11) during the first inning yesterday. Sizemore left the game with an injury from the play. (AP photo.)

The Indians wasted 10 hits and four walks in an 8-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday, and manager Manny Acta was not at all pleased after watching his team strand 11 and go 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

“We left an army of guys on the bases, and that really hurts at the end,” Acta said.

Sizemore twisted his right knee while rounding first base on a first-inning double. He was removed from the game and will be examined in Cleveland today to determine the extent of the injury. Sizemore has already spent time on the disabled list this season with a bruised right kneecap.

“It’s the same knee that he had the contusion, not the surgically repaired one,” Acta said. “He got a quick turn around first base and it hurt him a little bit.”

Cabrera, the AL starting shortstop in the All-Star game, added more footage to his ever-expanding highlight reel. With a runner on first base in the fourth, Cabrera sprinted behind second base to reach Markakis’ grounder. As his momentum carried him toward the outfield grass, he flipped a no-look, underhand toss to second baseman Luis Valbuena, whose relay completed the stunning double play.

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That was one of the only bright spots for the Indians, who have dropped five of seven. Travis Hafner and Carlos Santana homered in the first, but Cleveland allowed eight unanswered runs over the final eight innings.

“We just left too many people on base, ultimately,” Hafner said. “That really hurt us.”

Robert Andino homered and had a career-high four RBIs, and Adam Jones, Nick Markakis and Matt Wieters hit solo shots for the Orioles.

Baltimore is riding its first winning streak since June 19-20 after entering the weekend with nine straight defeats, including the first two games of this series.

Andino led the way. The first three-run homer of his career put Baltimore up 4-3 in the fifth, and a deftly executed suicide squeeze in the seventh helped pad the margin.

Limited to a pair of hits by Jeanmar Gomez and trailing 3-1 in the fifth, Baltimore got singles from Wieters and Mark Reynolds before Andino hit a 3-1 pitch into the front row of the left-field seats. It was his eighth home run in 3,524 career at-bats.

“That inning, I think what really hurt (Gomez) was the 0-2 pitch to Reynolds,” Acta said. “He wasn’t able to put him away and then the whole thing escalated.”

Markakis homered in the sixth to chase Gomez (0-2), recalled from Triple-A Columbus before the game.

“I threw the ball pretty well the first four innings,” Gomez said. “The fifth inning, the problem was I got behind the count.”

Cleveland loaded the bases with one out in the seventh before Jim Johnson quelled the threat.

Baltimore went up 7-3 in the bottom half against Joe Smith, who had not allowed an earned run in his previous 27 appearances. Derrek Lee doubled and came home on a bunt by Andino before J.J. Hardy hit an RBI single.

Wieters connected in the eighth off Frank Herrmann.

Baltimore starter Mitch Atkins gave up six hits, including a pair of homers, in three innings. The right-hander needed 77 pitches to get nine outs.

He was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk after the game.

Mark Hendrickson (1-0) followed with three innings of scoreless relief to earn his first win since May 13, 2010.

“(Hendrickson) was probably the key to the game, the innings he put up there,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said.

Atkins retired the first two batters before Hafner hit a drive into the center-field bleachers. Three pitches later, Santana launched a shot to right that became the 56th home run in the 20-year history of Camden Yards to land on Eutaw Street.

Showalter insisted it was a foul ball, and the umpires adjourned to look at a replay before returning to confirm the home run call.

Sizemore followed with a double but left after making it to second. He was replaced by Ezequiel Carrera, who scored on a single by Travis Buck.

Batting cleanup for the first time this season, Jones led off the second inning with his 15th home run.

Notes

• The Indians are expected to recall LHP David Huff on Monday to start against Minnesota. Fausto Carmona will come off the disabled list to pitch the second game of the doubleheader.
• The Orioles placed DH Vladimir Guerrero on the DL and recalled OF Matt Angle from Norfolk. Angle went 0 for 3 with a walk in his major league debut.

BALTIMORE (AP) – The bullpen gate kept swinging open, unleashing one outstanding pitcher after another.

Collectively, Cleveland’s relievers shut the door on Baltimore’s bid to mount one final comeback.

Asdrubal Cabrera and Grady Sizemore homered, Lonnie Chisenhall singled in the tiebreaking run in the sixth inning, and the Indians defeated Baltimore 6-5 Friday night to extend the Orioles’ losing streak to nine games – matching Buck Showalter’s longest skid as a big league manager.

Michael Brantley had three hits for the Indians, who improved to 5-0 against Baltimore this season and solidified their grip on first place in the AL Central.

Cleveland blew leads of 1-0, 3-2 and 5-3 before going ahead for good in the sixth against Jim Johnson (5-3). Matt LaPorta ended up on second base with a double after Felix Pie failed to catch his sinking liner to left, and Chisenhall lined an RBI single to right.

Then the Indians bullpen took over, keeping the Orioles hitless the rest of the way.

Chad Durbin and Rafael Perez worked the sixth, Joe Smith took care of the seventh, Vinnie Pestano handled the eighth and All-Star closer Chris Perez finished for his 22nd save in 23 chances.

“You can’t say enough about the bullpen,” Indians manager Manny Acta said. “They deserve the whole credit. They shut them down for four innings.”

Smith hasn’t given up an earned run in 27 straight appearances and owns a microscopic 0.80 ERA.

“I don’t know if we’re always this good, but the bullpen’s been one of our strengths,” the right-hander said. “We’ve got a lot of guys who come from a lot of different angles. I think we’ve got a little bit of funk in our bullpen. Nobody throws the same. That’s kind of difficult.”

It certainly was for the Orioles, who got six hits (including three homers) off starter Josh Tomlin (11-4) before being stonewalled by the Cleveland ‘pen.

“They have a number of guys who do what they’re asked to do and get the people out they’re asked to get out,” Showalter said. “And unfortunately where we are, our lineup sets up good for their bullpen the way it’s used.”

The Orioles were without designated hitter Vladimir Guerrero, who missed a second straight game with a fractured bone in his right hand. The injury occurred when he was hit by a pitch Sunday in Boston.

As a result, Showalter was left with a very short bench against a very strong bullpen. With the tying run on second base in the ninth, Showalter sent up rookie Blake Davis as a pinch hitter, and Chris Perez got him to foul out.

Despite getting a milestone hit from Nick Markakis and home runs from Matt Wieters, Nolan Reimold and Adam Jones, the Orioles reached their season high for consecutive losses. Baltimore is 1-14 in its last 15 games.

The only other time Showalter lost nine straight during his 13-year career as a manager was in 2003, with Texas.

Markakis got his 1,000th career hit, a third-inning single that enabled the 27-year-old to become the 14th player to reach the milestone in an Orioles uniform. But it came in another losing effort.

Orioles starter Jake Arrieta allowed five runs, eight hits and three walks in five innings before leaving with the score tied. It was the fourth straight start in which he failed to go more than five innings.

Tomlin became the first major leaguer since 1919 to go at least five innings in each of his first 31 appearances. But he also gave up a career-high three homers.

“Every mistake I made, they put a good swing on it,” he said.

The bullpen, however, was untouchable.

“I don’t like going five, having them cover four innings like that,” Tomlin said. “But they’ve done a great job all year.”

Cleveland went up 1-0 in the second inning when Sizemore doubled and came home on a single by LaPorta. In the bottom half, Wieters led off with his ninth homer and Reimold connected with two outs.

The lead quickly vanished. Brantley led off the third with a single and Cabrera drove a 2-0 pitch into the front row of the left-field seats. It was his 16th homer of the season, the second in two games.

Jones doubled in a run in the Orioles’ half to tie it.

Sizemore put Cleveland ahead in the fifth with a two-run shot to center, but Jones matched that in the bottom half with a no-doubt drive that traveled an estimated 424 feet.

That was Baltimore’s last hit.

“We played a better game than we did last night,” said Jones, referring to an 8-4 defeat on Thursday. “But we still lost. So it’s still the same result to me.”

Notes

The Indians have scheduled RHP Jeanmar Gomez to pitch Sunday, but he’s not on the roster. Thus, a player will have to be dropped when he’s added.

… Arrieta remained 5-0 against the AL Central this season.

… Cleveland’s Travis Buck went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.

ELYRIA — After a frustrating one-run, four-hit loss to Canfield on Wednesday night, Elyria’s Little League Majors All-Stars came alive Thursday.

Elyria’s Ashley Olszewski slides home as Conneaut catcher Tenya Higley waits for a throw Thursday afternoon during Elyria’s 14-0 win at Vic Janowicz Park. (CT photo by Chuck Humel.)

The Elyrians torched three Conneaut pitchers for 14 runs and 13 hits to advance in the six-team state tournament for players 11 and 12 years old. And they got a no-hitter from Ashley Hyer and Ashley Olszewski. The righties each pitched two innings of the game shortened by mercy rule and combined for five strikeouts in the 14-0 win.

Elyria advances to a losers-bracket, must-win showdown with Bucyrus at 3 p.m. today at Vic Janowicz Memorial Park. Each team has lost once in the double-elimination tourney.

Shortstop Dierra Hammons, facing a full count, set the tone when she led off the game with a ringing triple to the fence in straightaway center field. Third baseman Elizabeth Ellis followed with a double to left, and Elyria had all the runs it needed when the swift Hammons ran home.

“Usually, if one person hits, everybody else starts hitting,” Hammons said.

Ellis scored when Hyer legged out a bunt single, and Olszewski, who singled, made it a three-run inning when catcher Leia Peffer singled her home. Leigha Donaghue, who led off the second with a double, and Kaylee Hummrich, who bunted for a single, scored when Hammons unloaded a double.

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Hammons scored on Ellis’ second straight double, Ellis scored on Olszewski’s groundout RBI to the right side and Peffer scored on Megan Janowicz’s two-out single. Annaliese Prunty, who walked, scored on Ellis’ third straight hit, and Ellis scored on a wild pitch.

Peffer, Veronica Zack, Hammons and Ellis all scored in the top of the fourth, and when Olszewski induced the final out with a routine grounder in the bottom half, the game was over.

Hyer said she throws a fastball, drop, change-up and screwball. She faced eight batters. Olszewski, who said she throws the same assortment, plus a curve, faced seven. Combined, they threw 61 pitches, 37 by Hyer and 24 by Olszewski.

Peffer, the catcher, said Hyer’s drop was working well and Olszewski was having luck with the screwball.
“They both pitch about the same speed,” Peffer said.

Elyria manager Mike Ellis was delighted with the change 21½ hours made to his team.

“Our goal was to come out, score a few runs early and get ahead,” Ellis said. “That’s just exactly what we did. After yesterday’s game where we only scored one run, we wanted to come out and build our confidence. Dierra’s (Hammons) hit got things rolling.”

Contact Daniels at 329-7135 or softball@bobdaniels.info.

ELYRIA — Ryan Davis said he’d do anything to protect his 6-year-old son Cameron and he’ll have the scars to prove it.

Ryan Davis describes being attacked by his roommate’s dog. (CT photo by Evan Goodenow.)

Davis was mauled by a mixed pit bull around 7:40 p.m. Tuesday in the 300 block of Eighth Street, defending Cameron after Tippy, an 11-month-old dog, jumped on and scratched Cameron as he ran from it.

“I saw him jump up on my son. That’s when the daddy instincts jumped in,” Davis said Wednesday from a hospital bed at EMH Medical Center in Elyria. “I just went out there and started going crazy because I didn’t want anything to happen to my son.”

Tippy is one of six dogs owned by Wanda Alexander, Davis’ roommate, in the 300 block of Eighth Street. The attack was precipitated by Tippy and his sister, Sugar, chasing a cat out of Alexander and Davis’ home.

Tippy then jumped on Cameron, prompting Davis to grab a metal rod and come to his son’s defense. Davis said he swung the rod at Tippy like a baseball bat.

“I hit him every single time square on his head and he would not back away,” Davis said. “He just kept coming and coming and coming.”

Davis said the attack lasted two or three minutes before Josie Alexander, Alexander’s 16-year-old daughter, was able to subdue Tippy. After the attack, a screaming Davis lay in the street naked and bleeding, his clothes shredded by Tippy.

“Luckily he listened to Josie and let go,” said Davis. “I got lucky.”

Davis, 40, received five puncture wounds on his right arm, an approximately 4-inch long, 2-inch deep bite on his upper left thigh as well as bites on his back.

Between 1982 and 2006, pit bull terriers were the deadliest of all dog breeds in Canada and the U.S., killing 104 people, according to an analysis of news reports by Merritt Clifton, a Clinton, Wash., based animal rights journalist. Rottweilers were second, killing 58 and maiming 203.

While Clifton concluded pit bulls are dangerous and need to be strictly regulated, Davis said he doesn’t believe the dogs are inherently dangerous. Davis, who said he will have to undergo therapy on his arm, said Tippy’s behavior may have been due to him being kept in the basement because Alexander didn’t have enough room in the home for all her dogs.

“Pit bulls are not vicious,” he said. “It’s only how you bring them up.”

Tippy, who was not vaccinated for rabies, has been placed on a 10-day quarantine and will be killed. Wanda Alexander, 38, was charged with keeping a vicious dog at large and warned to get insurance for her other two pit bulls.

Alexander visited Davis, who she said she considers like a second brother, on Wednesday. She said she was devastated by what happened to him and about Tippy’s impending death. Alexander, who said she’s a single mother working full-time, said she isn’t a pit bull breeder and the birth of her three younger pit bulls was unplanned. She said she has been trying to sell or give away the three dogs.

A tearful Alexander said she understood why Davis believed Cameron was in danger, but believes Tippy isn’t vicious.

“I just want everybody to know that I didn’t mean for this to happen,” she said. “He’s never hurt anybody before.”

Contact Evan Goodenow at 329-7129 or egoodenow@chroniclet.com.