Whether his team wins by 14 or loses by nine, Cleveland catcher Victor Martinez just keeps on hitting.
Martinez looks to extend the longest current hitting streak in the major leagues going when the Indians meet the Baltimore Orioles in the finale of their three-game series at Camden Yards on Thursday.
Martinez's hitting streak reached 14 games as he homered in the Indians' 18-9 loss on Wednesday. He had three hits, including a homer, in Indians' 15-1 rout in the series opener on Tuesday.
For the season, Martinez is batting .407, good for fourth in the AL behind the Tigers' Chris Shelton, teammate Casey Blake and the Orioles' Ramon Hernandez.
Martinez hit in a career-high 17 in a row from June 17-July 6.
He will be looking for his first career hit off Baltimore's Erik Bedard (3-0, 2.25 ERA), who gets the start for Baltimore. In five at-bats, Martinez has struck out three times, and has just one RBI.
Bedard will try to join Boston's Curt Schilling as they only pitchers to win their first four decisions. Bedard - who has won only six games each of the last two seasons - has been the O's ace in 2006. He has allowed just five runs and 20 hits in 20 innings pitched with 11 strikeouts and just five walks.
The left-hander lasted eight innings Saturday, and allowed two runs and season-high eight hits in a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels.
He will be opposed by rookie Fausto Carmona (1-0, 1.50), who is making his second career start for the Indians. He gave up a run and five hits with two walks and four strikeouts Saturday in Cleveland's 7-2 win over the Tigers.
Both teams have combined for 43 runs and 63 hits in the two games. The Indians (9-6) had defeated Baltimore (9-7) five straight times before Wednesday's loss.
'It was a bad night all the way around,' Indians manager Eric Wedge said. 'It's one game.'
The Indians also lost two relievers to injury Wednesday. Matt Miller, who replaced starter Jake Westbrook, strained an elbow and appears headed to the disabled list. Rafael Betancourt came on to replace Miller, but left with a strained upper back after facing just two batters.
Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo was pleased with the way his team rebounded after the double-digit loss and an early four-run deficit.
'They really showed me some character tonight,' he said. 'When we came in the dugout and it was 7-3, they were still chirping about coming back. Miguel Tejada was saying, 'Let's go, we can get them.' After last night and being down 7-3, they showed me something tonight.'
The Detroit Tigers look to close out a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics knowing they have to continue creating an offense that isn't a one-dimensional threat.
Detroit (8-7) leads the AL with 28 home runs, averaging three per game in its wins thanks to an AL-best nine by unheralded Chris Shelton.
In its losses, however, the team averaged only one home run per game.
'If you're counting on home runs to win games every day, you're in bad shape,' Detroit second baseman Placido Polanco said. 'Home runs don't come every day.'
The Tigers had 15 hits - none of which were home runs - in Wednesday's 11-4 win over the Athletics, the team's only win this season without a home run.
While Shelton was 0-for-3 on the night, Polanco had his 1,000th career hit and was 4-for-5, driving in three run. He has 19 hits this season, second most on the team.
Kenny Rogers won his 20th career game against the Athletics, going 7 1-3 innings and giving up one earned run on three hits. The victory was the 20th of his career against Oakland, the most against any team he's faced .
Joe Blanton allowed 10 hits and seven earned runs in 4 1-3 innings for the Athletics (7-8). He didn't get any help out in the field as the A's committed four errors, doubling their total for the year.
'I don't think we pitched well, we didn't hit the ball very well and we didn't play defense,' A's manager Ken Macha said. 'That all adds up to a pretty good shellacking.'
The game was a sharp contrast to Detroit's last two losses when it managed only five runs on 12 hits while allowing 17 runs on 24 hits.
The Tigers are trying to maintain some consistency in their offense. While they had just eight fewer hits than its opponents, the Tigers have been outscored 48-25 in their losses this season.
Jeremy Bonderman (1-2, 6.23 ERA) will try to avoid his third straight setback. In a 7-2 loss Saturday to Cleveland, he gave up seven runs and eight hits in 3 2-3 innings after giving up just five runs and nine hits in his previous two starts.
Bonderman was drafted by Oakland, but never played with the team after being picked up by the Tigers in 2002.
He lost both starts against the A's last season, pitching nine innings while giving up 10 runs on 17 hits.
Barry Zito (1-2, 7.53) is looking to turn around for Oakland's struggling starting rotation. His slow start has mirrored the rest of the rotation who are 4-7 this season with a 6.21 ERA.
'We're just not playing consistent ball right now,' Macha said. 'The starting pitching has been very inconsistent, and the offense has also.'
Oakland is averaging 5.14 runs in its wins this season in comparison to 3.38 in losses.
Zito is 3-0 in the last two years against the Tigers with a 4.00 ERA.
Martinez looks to extend the longest current hitting streak in the major leagues going when the Indians meet the Baltimore Orioles in the finale of their three-game series at Camden Yards on Thursday.
Martinez's hitting streak reached 14 games as he homered in the Indians' 18-9 loss on Wednesday. He had three hits, including a homer, in Indians' 15-1 rout in the series opener on Tuesday.
For the season, Martinez is batting .407, good for fourth in the AL behind the Tigers' Chris Shelton, teammate Casey Blake and the Orioles' Ramon Hernandez.
Martinez hit in a career-high 17 in a row from June 17-July 6.
He will be looking for his first career hit off Baltimore's Erik Bedard (3-0, 2.25 ERA), who gets the start for Baltimore. In five at-bats, Martinez has struck out three times, and has just one RBI.
Bedard will try to join Boston's Curt Schilling as they only pitchers to win their first four decisions. Bedard - who has won only six games each of the last two seasons - has been the O's ace in 2006. He has allowed just five runs and 20 hits in 20 innings pitched with 11 strikeouts and just five walks.
The left-hander lasted eight innings Saturday, and allowed two runs and season-high eight hits in a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels.
He will be opposed by rookie Fausto Carmona (1-0, 1.50), who is making his second career start for the Indians. He gave up a run and five hits with two walks and four strikeouts Saturday in Cleveland's 7-2 win over the Tigers.
Both teams have combined for 43 runs and 63 hits in the two games. The Indians (9-6) had defeated Baltimore (9-7) five straight times before Wednesday's loss.
'It was a bad night all the way around,' Indians manager Eric Wedge said. 'It's one game.'
The Indians also lost two relievers to injury Wednesday. Matt Miller, who replaced starter Jake Westbrook, strained an elbow and appears headed to the disabled list. Rafael Betancourt came on to replace Miller, but left with a strained upper back after facing just two batters.
Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo was pleased with the way his team rebounded after the double-digit loss and an early four-run deficit.
'They really showed me some character tonight,' he said. 'When we came in the dugout and it was 7-3, they were still chirping about coming back. Miguel Tejada was saying, 'Let's go, we can get them.' After last night and being down 7-3, they showed me something tonight.'
The Detroit Tigers look to close out a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics knowing they have to continue creating an offense that isn't a one-dimensional threat.
Detroit (8-7) leads the AL with 28 home runs, averaging three per game in its wins thanks to an AL-best nine by unheralded Chris Shelton.
In its losses, however, the team averaged only one home run per game.
'If you're counting on home runs to win games every day, you're in bad shape,' Detroit second baseman Placido Polanco said. 'Home runs don't come every day.'
The Tigers had 15 hits - none of which were home runs - in Wednesday's 11-4 win over the Athletics, the team's only win this season without a home run.
While Shelton was 0-for-3 on the night, Polanco had his 1,000th career hit and was 4-for-5, driving in three run. He has 19 hits this season, second most on the team.
Kenny Rogers won his 20th career game against the Athletics, going 7 1-3 innings and giving up one earned run on three hits. The victory was the 20th of his career against Oakland, the most against any team he's faced .
Joe Blanton allowed 10 hits and seven earned runs in 4 1-3 innings for the Athletics (7-8). He didn't get any help out in the field as the A's committed four errors, doubling their total for the year.
'I don't think we pitched well, we didn't hit the ball very well and we didn't play defense,' A's manager Ken Macha said. 'That all adds up to a pretty good shellacking.'
The game was a sharp contrast to Detroit's last two losses when it managed only five runs on 12 hits while allowing 17 runs on 24 hits.
The Tigers are trying to maintain some consistency in their offense. While they had just eight fewer hits than its opponents, the Tigers have been outscored 48-25 in their losses this season.
Jeremy Bonderman (1-2, 6.23 ERA) will try to avoid his third straight setback. In a 7-2 loss Saturday to Cleveland, he gave up seven runs and eight hits in 3 2-3 innings after giving up just five runs and nine hits in his previous two starts.
Bonderman was drafted by Oakland, but never played with the team after being picked up by the Tigers in 2002.
He lost both starts against the A's last season, pitching nine innings while giving up 10 runs on 17 hits.
Barry Zito (1-2, 7.53) is looking to turn around for Oakland's struggling starting rotation. His slow start has mirrored the rest of the rotation who are 4-7 this season with a 6.21 ERA.
'We're just not playing consistent ball right now,' Macha said. 'The starting pitching has been very inconsistent, and the offense has also.'
Oakland is averaging 5.14 runs in its wins this season in comparison to 3.38 in losses.
Zito is 3-0 in the last two years against the Tigers with a 4.00 ERA.
