CLEVELAND (AP) - The weather cleared up. The Padres were sloppy.
One day after the series opener was rained out, San Diego made two errors that helped Cleveland jump out to a big lead, and the Indians held on for an 8-6 win over the Padres on Tuesday night.
“Those two errors cost us multiple runs,” San Diego manager Bud Black said. “It wasn’t a clean game from both sides. They ended up outscoring us.”
David Murphy hit a three-run homer and had four RBIs as the Indians took advantage of outdoor batting practice and San Diego’s sloppiness. Murphy’s shot in the fourth inning off Tyson Ross (0-2), who dropped a throw covering first base with one out, gave the Indians a 6-2 lead.
“He just took his eye off the ball,” Black said. “It was a physical mistake. Those can’t happen. Obviously, that led to a three-run inning. I’m going to go on record as saying that Tyson will not drop another like that the rest of the year.”
Jedd Gyorko had three RBIs, Everth Cabrera hit three doubles and Xavier Nady homered in the ninth for the Padres, who pulled to 8-6 against reliever Vinnie Pestano before John Axford closed it out by getting Will Venable to fly out to deep center with a runner on first.
The Indians were washed out for the second time Monday and have endured wintry conditions so far at home. They’ve only had BP on the field twice and have scored 15 runs in those games.
Nyjer Morgan had three hits and two RBIs for the Indians, who will play their second doubleheader this season Wednesday.
With the Indians leading 3-2, Murphy, who had four hits in Sunday’s loss to Minnesota, hit his first homer since signing with Cleveland as a free agent.
Ross’ fielding error - he dropped the ball covering first - with one out set up the inning. Lonnie Chisenhall followed with a single and both runners moved up on a wild pitch. Ross got Yan Gomes on a grounder to third before he grooved a 3-1 pitch to Murphy, who knocked it into the right field seats.
“It was a matter of taking my eye off the ball a little bit too soon and worrying about the bag before catching it,” said Ross, who allowed only two earned runs and five hits in 5 1-3 innings with five walks. “It was a tough one for me. It definitely wasn’t the result I wanted.”
Despite getting in some extra cuts during just their second outdoor BP session since the season started, the Indians had only one hit through three innings but led 3-0.
The Padres did all the work for them. San Diego issued two walks, made an error and had a passed ball - all in the third inning.
Ross walked Gomes and Murphy before Yasmani Grandal’s passed ball put runners at first and third. Morgan hit a grounder toward right that second baseman Gyorko stopped with a nice play before throwing wildly past second as Gomes scored and Murphy hustled to third.
Nick Swisher hit an RBI groundout and Jason Kipnis delivered a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0.
“It was a terrible throw,” Gyorko said. “If you have to do it again, maybe just get the easy out at first. I made a bad play.”
He made up for his mistake in the fourth with a two-run double, bringing in San Diego’s 13th and 14th runs in seven games this season.
NOTES: Before the game, a moment of silence was observed for Michael Hirschbeck, son of veteran umpire John Hirschbeck. Michael died at age 27 on Tuesday. He frequently worked as a bat boy for the Indians. … Before Monday’s rainout, the Padres went 474 consecutive games without one being rescheduled. Their doubleheader on Wednesday will be their first since April 20, 2011, at Wrigley Field. … Gyorko came in batting .095 (2 for 21) with one RBI. … Nady had been 0 for 6 this season before his 422-foot homer, his first since Sept. 30, 2010, with the Giants.
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