Red Sox Pummel the Indians Again

CLEVELAND — If the Cleveland Indians have to play the Boston Red Sox in the playoffs, it could be a short postseason for the AL Central champions.

Troy O’Leary hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs and Jose Offerman went four for four as the surging Red Sox routed Cleveland, 12-3, Tuesday night, improving their record to 7-4 against the Indians and possibly knocking Dwight Gooden out of Cleveland’s postseason pitching plans.

Boston won for the eighth time in 11 games on a 12-game trip and remained 3 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees in the AL East. The Red Sox increased their wild-card lead to three games over Oakland.

Gooden (3-4) gave up six runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings.

“It wasn’t a good outing,” Indian Manager Mike Hargrove said. “His velocity was there, but he was inconsistent.

“If there was a silver lining from this mess tonight, it is that we got a chance to look at people and make some decisions. And that’s really stretching for a silver lining.”