Mariners Beat Indians 12-6

There would be no makeup of this makeup, so the Indians and Mariners had to make do in the pouring rain at Progressive Field on Monday afternoon.

Maintaining the integrity of the 162-game schedule was the primary intent of this makeup date of a game originally scheduled to take place May 14, back when both of these teams still hoped to contend in their respective divisions. It was played, instead, on a day in which September callups lined the benches and very few fans filled the cold and damp seats.

And as if the elements and the atmosphere weren't dreary enough, the Indians saw an early lead wither in the hands of David Huff, as the Mariners' nine-spot in the third put the Tribe on the path to a 12-6 loss in a rain-shortened, seven-inning tilt.

"It was an ugly day," manager Manny Acta said. "A disappointing loss."

It started out promisingly enough for the Tribe, as Asdrubal Cabrera and Carlos Santana went back-to-back with shots to left off Charlie Furbush in the first, giving the Indians a 3-0 lead. It was the 23rd homer of the season for Cabrera, who seems to have recovered from an early September skid, and the 26th for Santana, who set a new club record for switch-hitter homers in a single season.

But it was not a lead safe in the hands of Huff. Rain always seems to be in the forecast on the days Huff takes the mound, but on this day the forecast also called for inconsistent command and some hard hits.

In the second, Alex Liddi, the first Italian-born and raised ballplayer in the bigs, hit his first career homer with a two-run shot off Huff to make it 3-2. After Cabrera's RBI double in the bottom of the inning bought the Tribe some insurance, the Mariners really erupted in the third.

The big inning began with an error by third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall, allowing Luis Rodriguez to reach. Mike Carp ripped an RBI line drive to center, and the Mariners were off. Kyle Seager singled home a run with one out to tie it, and Trayvon Robinson drove home a pair with a bases-loaded single to give the Mariners the lead. After Chris Gimenez made the second out, Ichiro Suzuki grounded a double to left to score Liddi and make it 7-4.

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