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WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- The Indians will enjoy their only day off of the
spring on Tuesday before returning to exhibition play Wednesday against the
Boston Red Sox in Fort Myers.
Left-hander Jason Stanford will start for Cleveland with right-handers
Jose Jimenez, Dave Lee, David Riske, Giovanni Carrara and Bob Wickman also
scheduled to pitch.
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Right-hander Jason Bere is scheduled to start Thursday at Chain of Lakes
Park against the Red Sox, followed by lefty Cliff Lee. Right-hander Jake Westbrook will face his former team, the New York Yankees, on Friday and that game
could be a sellout.
Left-hander Mike Porzio, a 31-year-old who has pitched for the White Sox
and Rockies, has been shut down because of tendonitis in his shoulder. Porzio
was signed as a minor-league free agent in December and invited to the
big-league camp.
A five-game winning streak through Sunday gave Cleveland a 9-3 record,
best in the Grapefruit League. Not surprisingly, some players have posted
impressive numbers:
* 1B Ben Broussard is hitting .550 (11-for-20), which leads all AL
players, as does his seven doubles and .640 on-base percentage.
* 1B Travis Hafner is batting .450 (9-for-20) with three homers (tied for
second in the AL) and six RBI.
* 3B Casey Blake has a team-high 11 RBI, with three homers and a .333
average.
* INF Ricky Gutierrez is batting .636 (7-for-11) with four RBI and four
runs scored.
* OFs Grady Sizemore (.400, 3 doubles, 2 triples), Matt Lawton (.400, 4
doubles), Coco Crisp (.391), Alex Escobar (.348) and Jody Gerut (.333) are all
off the good starts at the plate, as are CA Victor Martinez (.353) and INF
John McDonald (.300).
Hoping to pick things up:
* INF Lou Merloni, who pinch-hit a three-run homer in his spring debut,
has gone just 1-for-12 since and is hitting .154 overall.
* INF Brandon Phillips is also batting .154.
* LHP Scott Stewart, acquired from Montreal in December, has a 14.73 ERA
in two outings, covering 3 2-3 innings.
* RHP Jack Cressend is 0-1 with a 9.64 ERA over three outings and 4 2-3
innings.
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