NEW YORK, 16 June 2004 — Jake Westbrook pitched a four-hitter for his first career shutout to lead the hosts Cleveland Indians to a 14-0 rout of the Baltimore Orioles in the lone American League game played Monday. Cleveland scored seven runs in the third inning and six more in the fifth to make it an easy day for Westbrook. The Indians pounded out eight doubles and 15 hits overall.
Westbrook (6-2) struck out four batters and walked two in his third complete game in the major leagues. John MacDonald had four hits after entering the game with a batting average of .107. He also scored twice and drove in a run.
Casey Blake notched three hits and drove in two runs for the Tribe while Lou Merloni had two hits and drove in two runs.
Coco Crisp, Jody Gerut and Tim Laker all drove in two runs for Cleveland, winners of four straight games. Eric DuBose (4-5) was tagged for eight runs on six hits with four walks in 2 2/3 innings.
The Orioles have lost six out of nine games. BJ Surhoff had two of Baltimore’s four hits.
Cubs Hand Clemens First Loss of Season
Todd Walker clubbed two home runs and collected four hits to help the Chicago Cubs hand Roger Clemens his first loss of the year, defeating the hosts Houston Astros 7-2 in the National League on Monday.
The 41-year-old Clemens had become the oldest pitcher to win his first nine decisions of the season. Walker also scored four runs while Mark Prior tossed five shutout innings for his first victory of 2004. Aramis Ramirez and Moises Alou notched homers for the Cubs, who jumped into a 5-0 lead against Clemens by the sixth inning.
Ramirez had two hits and drove in two runs while Ramon Hernandez and Derrek Lee both added two hits and an RBI.
Jimmy Anderson gave up two runs in the ninth but went four innings to earn his first save of the campaign, surrendering five hits.
Clemens (9-1) allowed five runs on 10 hits over six innings, striking out six batters and walking one. Craig Biggio and Brad Ausmus both had two hits and drove in a run for the Astros, who lost for the third time in four outings.
In Philadelphia, a two-run shot in the first inning earned Jim Thome his 400th homer as the Phillies downed the Cincinnati Reds 10-7.
Thome’s major league-leading 19th home run of the season helped him become the 37th player in history to reach 400 in his career.
Griffey Second Among Outfielders in NL All-Star Voting
Ken Griffey Jr., who needs one home run to become the 20th player to reach the 500 club, has moved to second among outfielders in the latest National League All-Star fan balloting announced Monday. The 75th All-Star Game is scheduled for July 13 at Minute Maid Park in Houston.
Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants remains the overall leader with 1,196,386 votes, but Griffey of the Cincinnati Reds passed Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs with 980,733 votes. Sosa is third among outfielders with 920,182 votes, well ahead of Lance Berkman of the Houston Astros (762,248).
Jeff Kent of the Astros is the runaway leader at second base with 1,089,924 votes, nearly triple the total of Marcus Giles of the Atlanta Braves.
Adam Everett of the Astros has reclaimed the lead among shortstops with 625,055 votes. Edgar Renteria of the St. Louis Cardinals is second with 545,697 votes. Two members of the Cardinals — Albert Pujols and Scott Rolen — lead at first base and third base, respectively. Pujols has 892,603 votes, but Jeff Bagwell of the Astros is a close second with 807,564 votes. Rolen has 998,851 votes, more than double the total of Aramis Ramirez of the Cubs (450,421).
Mike Piazza of the New York Mets is on the verge of getting his 10th election as the starting catcher, which would tie him with Hall of Famer Johnny Bench for most elections at the position.
