Cliff Lee worked six strong innings to win his fourth game this month and keep his perfect interleague record intact, and Travis Hafner homered twice in the Cleveland Indians’ 10-3 victory over the sagging St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night.
The win snapped a string of 10 straight losses in series openers dating to May 23.
Jhonny Peralta hit a tiebreaking two-run triple in the fifth for the Indians, who also got homers from Grady Sizemore and Todd Hollandsworth and won for only the fourth time in 13 games. The Indians are 1-8-1 in their last 10 series, losing the last seven.
The Cardinals have lost seven in a row for the first time since 2002. Manager Tony La Russa prefaced his postgame news conference by saying, “Go on, punish me. Let’s go.”
“We’re not having fun,” La Russa said.
“Most of the games aren’t close. It’s a real struggle, but they’re in the book.”
Jason Marquis (9-6) was battered for the second straight start, allowing seven runs in six innings. He gave up three of the homers and has allowed seven in his last two outings to tie for the major league lead with 19.
In the last two games, he has allowed 20 earned runs in 11 innings.
