Tribe keeps it close, but can't finish vs. Mets

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By John Barone / MLB.com

06/18/10 12:35 AM ET

CLEVELAND -- Jake Westbrook kept the Indians within striking distance. But they never struck.

At least not often enough to prevent another loss.

The sizzling Mets put the finishing touches on a three-game sweep of the Tribe on Thursday night, staking claim to a 6-4 victory at Progressive Field that capped a bittersweet 4-6 homestand for the Indians.

It was a homestand that included four straight wins, a season high. But it was also a homestand that ended with four straight losses.

It was a homestand that left Cleveland manager Manny Acta feeling dissatisfied.

"We were anticipating better results," Acta said. "We started out well, but it didn't end up how we would have liked. We ran into a very good ballclub these last three games and didn't make plays.

"And when we didn't make plays, they made us pay."

Westbrook lacked his best stuff, on a night when it was essentially required for a victory, against a New York team that has lost just twice this month.

"They hit him around early," Acta said, "but he made adjustments and got into a groove."

The 32-year-old right-hander yielded five runs on 11 hits, with two walks and five strikeouts, in a gutsy, seven-inning, 109-pitch effort.

"I made some decent pitches," Westbrook said. "But they're hot. They found a way.

"I felt good about what I had."

Against the surging Mets, what he had wasn't quite good enough.

New York drew first blood for the third successive game, touching up Westbrook for three runs on six singles in the first. RBI singles from Ike Davis and Henry Blanco bookended a sacrifice fly by Jeff Francoeur, staking the Mets to an early advantage that proved insurmountable for the Tribe.

"We couldn't do much with [R.A.] Dickey," Acta said.

Dickey, the New York knuckleballer, scattered seven hits over six innings of three-run ball.

Jhonny Peralta lined a 1-2 knuckleball from Dickey into right field for a two-out single that delivered Travis Hafner in the second. One inning later, Mets second baseman Ruben Tejada misplayed Hafner's two-out grounder, allowing Shin-Soo Choo to score from second.

But Westbrook gave two runs right back in the fourth. New York loaded the bases with one out, setting the stage for David Wright's RBI fielder's-choice grounder and another run-scoring single from Davis.

"That was a two-spot we didn't need," Westbrook said. "Those crooked numbers always hurt. I gave us a chance, but I needed to do a better job of limiting the damage.

"If I get one big out, it could have been a different ballgame."

Cleveland closed it to 5-4 thanks to a pair of RBI groundouts from Hafner, who drove in Choo in the fifth and Carlos Santana in the seventh. Santana doubled and took third on a fielding error by Mets center fielder Angel Pagan.

Acta couldn't help but delight in the play he's witnessed from Santana, who finished 2-for-5.

"This guy's good, man. He's legit," Acta said. "Everything's been thrown at him so far. He's seen [Stephen] Strasburg, [he's seen] a knuckleballer, but he always finds a way to put good wood on the ball."

The Mets tacked on an insurance run against Chris Perez in the eighth, when Jose Reyes tripled home Tejada with a two-out drive to right.

"It seemed like we had to play catch-up the whole series," Acta said.

Choo singled off Francisco Rodriguez in the ninth, bringing the tying run to the plate with one out. But the Mets closer fanned Santana on a 3-2 fastball and Hafner on a 3-2 changeup to end the contest.

"We could never get that big hit," Acta said.

Not for a lack of effort, though.

"We did a good job battling all night," Westbrook said. "We just couldn't get it done."

Call it a deflating conclusion to a 4-6 homestand, one that was both thrilling and unfulfilling.

John Barone is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.