Indians Pound Yankees, 11-0

World Cup soccer had nothing on the impressive international matchup at Jacobs Field on Sunday night.

The Dominican Republic pounded out an impressive decision over Japan as Manny Ramirez drove in four runs and hit two of Cleveland’s five home runs to support the pitching of Bartolo Colon as the Indians routed the New York Yankees and Hideki Irabu, 11-0.

The two division leaders split a four-game series in their first meeting at Cleveland since the Indians ousted the Yankees in a five-game playoff series in October.

“You look at all the games before tonight and they were tight, well-played games,” Indian Manager Mike Hargrove said. “I don’t know about either team getting the other’s bluff this early in the season. We both figure to see each other somewhere down the line when the stakes are higher.”

Hargrove could be holding a valuable ace in Colon when that happens. The right-hander allowed three hits, five walks and struck out 10 over eight innings. He lowered his earned run average to 2.53, second in the AL to Hideki Irabu (6-3).

“Colon was very impressive,” Yankee Manager Joe Torre said. “He took us to task.”

So did Ramirez, who had his second straight big offensive output for his fellow Dominican. Tuesday night, he went three for four with a homer and six RBIs as Colon beat Kansas City, 9-1.

“I hope Manny does that every game,” Colon said. “The other guys too.”

Ramirez hit a three-run homer, his 13th, to center field in the third inning to give the Indians a 5-0 lead.

“I think the pitch was a fastball inside,” Ramirez said. “I was lucky to hit a homer.”

Said Irabu: “It just wasn’t a good pitch.

“The reason I was hit was my location and control were a bit off.”

Irabu allowed a season-high five runs in three innings, his shortest outing of the season. His earned-run average went from 1.68 to 2.19.

New York’s only serious threat came in the second. Colon walked two and yielded a broken-bat single to Chad Curtis to load the bases. He then got Ricky Ledee on a called strike three and fanned Scott Brosius.

“I went with fastballs there and tried to keep them low,” Colon said.

Hargrove said that Colon, who topped out at 99 mph on a radar gun, “has the stuff to do that, strike guys out with men on base.

“The thing that impressed me was the way he adjusted when he had to sit on the bench during the long innings when we scored.”

Travis Fryman hit his 11th homer and Jim Thome had an RBI single in the fourth to make it 7-0. Sandy Alomar’s RBI triple and Fryman’s sacrifice fly made it 9-0 in the fifth.

Ramirez doubled and scored on Jeff Branson’s pinch-hit single to make it 10-0 in the seventh. Shawon Dunston’s second homer closed the scoring in the eighth.