Choo gives Indians offense some bite
CLEVELAND — Indians hitters have gone hungry for the majority of this homestand. Friday night at Progressive Field, they feasted like kings.
Scoring a combined 13 runs in their five previous games, the Indians went on the warpath in their series opener with Oakland, battering the A’s 15-3 behind a 15-hit attack, which included eight extra-base hits and three home runs.
“It was great to see the bats come alive,” said Indians manager Eric Wedge, whose team snapped a five-game losing streak with just its third victory in the last 16 games. “You feel good about the lineup we’re running out there.
“Tonight was nice to see, especially with the frustration we’ve had over the last week or so.”
No one swung the bat better than Cleveland right fielder Shin-Soo Choo, who enjoyed a career night in front of an endearing Progressive Field crowd of 26,557 fans.
Pacing the potent Indians offense, Choo had four hits in five trips to the plate, clouting two homers and driving in a career-high seven runs — the most by a Cleveland player this year. He also scored a career-high four runs.
“He had a great night,” said Wedge, whose Indians also got a homer from Travis Hafner — his fourth in the last 11 games. “You can’t do much more than what he did.”
A slumping Victor Martinez, the Indians’ leading hitter for the majority of the season, was the only starter without a hit (0-for-5).
Choo had already driven in three runs with a single and double in his first three at-bats when he connected on his first homer, a three-run shot off former Cleveland reliever Craig Breslow that capped a five-run fifth. The Indians led 13-3 after five innings.
Choo circled the bases again after leading off the seventh with his 12th homer of the year to cap the scoring.
With the crowd chanting, “Chooooooo,” he stepped out of the dugout to receive a well-deserved curtain call.
“Wedge said, ‘OK, Choo, let’s go,’” Choo said of his manager prompting him to receive the acknowledgement from Cleveland fans. “I don’t think I will forget a night like this. Last year, I was nervous (for the curtain call). Tonight, was a little easier.”
Cleveland starter David Huff was the recipient of the inordinate amount of run support.
Huff wasn’t dominant, but he did give the Indians a quality start — three runs on eight hits over six innings — to win for the fourth time this season. Cleveland’s offense made for an easy ride for the left-hander.
“It was great,” said Huff of the run support. “I definitely had to go down in the tunnel and throw to stay warm. They did a good job today.”
Huff allowed runs in three of the first four innings before shutting out Oakland over the last two. He was in trouble for much of the night but never allowed the A’s to produce the big inning.
“David Huff continues to progress into a major league pitcher,” Wedge said.
Huff (4-3, 6.06) stranded six Oakland base runners, striking out four and walking just one.
He was coming off arguably his worst effort of the season after giving up seven runs on nine hits in just five innings during an 8-1 loss to Cincinnati.
“You can’t be looking back at your past outings,” said the 24-year-old Huff, who has made 10 starts during his debut season on the big league level. “All you can do is learn from them and move on. You fall into a rut once in a while, but you have to just keep going.”
Following the game, Wedge confirmed that newly acquired reliever Winston Abreu would be activated today to join the Indians bullpen. Right-hander Matt Herges confirmed in the clubhouse that he would be designated for assignment to clear room for Abreu on the 25-man roster.
Herges, a 40-year-old right-hander who pitched well out of Cleveland’s bullpen for a spell, went 2-1 with a 3.55 ERA in 21 games (25 1/3 innings).
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.
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