Westbrook keeps noise down

Christina Aguilera's song ``Ain't No Other Man" blared in the visitors' clubhouse after the Indians' 7-6 victory over the Red Sox last night at Fenway Park.

It seemed a fitting postgame selection, since for most of the night, Cleveland wanted no other man on the mound than Jake Westbrook.

After watching his young bullpen surrender two walkoff wins to the Red Sox in three days, Indians manager Eric Wedge decided to stick with his starter and it paid off. The 28-year-old righthander went eight innings, allowing six runs (all earned) and 15 hits, the most by a pitcher in a game in the major leagues this season.

``He put the ball on the ground and they found some holes and got a couple of big knocks," said Wedge. ``But he never gave in and he kept going and was aggressive. He did a great job of pitching that deep into the ballgame."

The Sox found lots of holes, but not enough to sink the Indians sinkerballer. Of the 15 hits Westbrook served up, only three were for extra bases -- all doubles.

It appeared the Sox were ready to send Westbrook to the showers in the sixth, loading the bases with nobody out. Nursing a 7-3 lead, Westbrook induced Ken Huckaby to hit into a 6-4-3 double play, plating one run. Kevin Youkilis added an RBI single to make it 7-5, but Westbrook got Mark Loretta to pop to second to end the inning.

In the eighth, the Sox put the first two runners on -- Coco Crisp and Alex Gonzalez -- and Alex Cora sacrificed them into scoring position, but they could only muster a Youkilis sacrifice fly.

``I was making decent pitches and they weren't really crushing the ball," Westbrook said. ``But a hit is a hit, so there's base runners and you still have to battle through and make some big pitches and I was able to do that."

After eight harrowing innings and a season-high 118 pitchers for Westbrook, Wedge finally -- and probably reluctantly -- went to his bullpen in the ninth, bringing in Jason Davis to close it out.

Westbrook must have been relieved to have been out of the game, right? Wrong. He said he could have gone another inning.

``There are some nights when I only have 95 pitches and I'll be done, but tonight I don't know what it was," he said. ``It was real cool weather and I still felt strong."

Not many pitchers win while allowing 15 hits -- Westbrook is the first since John Dopson for Montreal in 1988 -- but Wedge was unfazed by the hit parade. ``Hey, he got the win," said Wedge.

In the end, that's the only stat that counts.