CLEVELAND (AP) – Kevin Millwood won for the first time in five July starts and Victor Martinez hit a three-run homer, helping the Cleveland Indians beat the Seattle Mariners 6-3 Sunday.

Martinez had three hits. His 11th homer, off reliever J.J. Putz in the seventh inning, gave Millwood more runs with one swing than the Indians have averaged in the right-hander’s 18 starts.

Millwood (4-9) snapped his four-game losing streak. The Indians had been shut out three times and scored a total of two runs in those games.

The right-hander, averaging only 2.7 runs a game of support, gave up two runs – one earned – and three hits over 7 2-3 innings. He walked two and struck out five.

Cleveland improved to only 5-12 since July 5.

Mariners starter Aaron Sele (6-11) dropped his sixth straight start and remained winless since mid-June as Seattle lost for the fifth time in six games.

Jhonny Peralta singled home a run to put Cleveland ahead 1-0 in the first inning – the first time Millwood had a lead in 26 1-3 innings.

The right-hander promptly gave it back, as Richie Sexson hit a 3-2 pitch for his 23rd homer leading off the second. That made Sexson 6-for-14 (.429) with three homers and nine RBIs in his career against Millwood, who retired the first baseman the next two times up – once on a foul popup and then on a drive that Coco Crisp caught at the base of the left-field wall.

Seattle scored an unearned run in the third to go ahead 2-1. Randy Winn hit a leadoff double, advanced on a groundout and scored when Adrian Beltre’s two-out line drive glanced off center fielder Grady Sizemore’s glove for an error.

Martinez singled to start the sixth, took third on a double by Ben Broussard and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ronnie Belliard to tie it at 2. Casey Blake delivered another sac fly off Julio Mateo to score Broussard with the go-ahead run.

Sele gave up three runs and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings, falling to 0-6 since a 5-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on June 15. The right-hander is 5-10 in his career against Cleveland and has not defeated the Indians since Sept. 7, 1999.

Beltre snapped an 0-for-14 slump with a homer in the ninth off Bob Wickman.

Notes: Rain delayed the start 68 minutes. … Indians DH Travis Hafner missed his eighth straight game with a concussion. … The Mariners are 8-23 in games in which they have allowed a first-inning run. … Seattle fell to 11-6 in games on Sunday, the only day of the week in which the Mariners have a winning record. … RHP Shigetoshi Hasegawa made his 500th pitching appearance for Seattle in the eighth. … Cleveland finished an 11-game homestand 4-7. … Martinez has hit .331 (39-for-118) with five homers and 21 RBIs in his last 35 games.

AP-ES-07-24-05 1707EDT


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.