Struggles Continue for Indians

David Wells kept the lid on the Cleveland Indians.

Wells pitched eight strong innings Thursday night as the Toronto Blue Jays won at Toronto, 8-1, sending the Indians to their fifth consecutive loss.

“This team is like a stick of dynamite. Our fuse is a little long right now. It’s going to get down to the stick pretty soon and explode,” Cleveland starter Chuck Finley said.

The Indians, who became the first team in 50 years to score more than 1,000 runs in a season last year, are near the bottom of the American League in nearly every major offensive category.

They scored their only run in the first inning when Jolbert Cabrera went home on a double steal. It came after third baseman Tony Batista’s fielding error.

“Good teams go through struggles,” said Roberto Alomar, who has only two hits in his last 27 at-bats. “There is still a long way to go.”

The Indians were without Manager Charlie Manuel, who will have surgery today to reattach his colon. He had eight inches of his colon removed in February when it ruptured during spring training.

Manuel’s surgery could leave him hospitalized for a week and away from his team for two. Bench coach Grady Little ran the Indians in Manuel’s absence.

Tampa Bay 8, Texas 7--Greg Vaughn homered in the bottom of the 11th inning to lift the Devil Rays at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Vaughn, who homered against Jeff Zimmerman with one out, finished four for six with three runs batted in. He had run-scoring singles in his two previous at-bats.

Detroit 8, Minnesota 6--Brad Ausmus’ infield single in the 11th gave the Tigers the victory at Minneapolis.

With runners at second and third, Ausmus hit an RBI grounder up the middle against Eddie Guardado that shortstop Cristian Guzman fielded. He threw wildly to first, allowing another run to score.