Tribe's Alvarez hits two more homers

Pedro Alvarez liked what Carlos Santana did on Opening Day so much, he decided to try it himself.

Alvarez homered twice and drove in five runs Friday as the Indianapolis Indians outslugged the Columbus Clippers, 14-12.

The second overall pick in the 2008 Draft, Alvarez also homered in his Triple-A debut on Thursday. But he was overshadowed by Santana, who went deep twice in the Clippers' season-opening 17-4 rout.

On Friday, Alvarez launched a two-run blast in the third inning that helped Indianapolis erase a pair of three-run deficits. He connected again for a three-run shot that highlighted a five-run fifth.

"I thought we did a good job of staying in the game after we fell behind early," Alvarez said. "We scored two after they scored three in the first to cut down their lead, and that was the biggest thing tonight. We just had to stay in the game because there is always a chance. When we got on top we had to keep putting the pressure on them."

MLB.com's No. 8 prospect, Alvarez is 3-for-9 in his first two games in the International League. He batted .296 with four RBIs in 12 games with the Pirates in Spring Training.

"I try to keep it simple and not try to do too much. That's when your swing gets long or you start to tighten up," the New York native said. "It's weird to say you keep it loose and easy, but in reality you are swinging hard and you want fluidity. I'm just trying to put a good swing on the ball and not try and do too much."

On Thursday, Santana hit two homers and knocked in seven runs against Indianapolis. On Friday, he homered again for the Clippers (1-1), plating three.

Erik Kratz added a two-run homer and Jonathan Van Every hit a solo shot and scored three times for Indianapolis (1-1). Jose Tabata, who led the Arizona Fall League in batting, doubled twice.

Not to be outdone, Santana homered again and drove in three runs, giving him six hits in 10 at-bats.

Indians starter Brad Lincoln lasted 3 1/3 innings and allowed seven runs on eight hits while fanning four. Jeff Karstens (1-0) picked up the win in relief, despite giving up four runs on four hits. Brian Bass worked the final three innings for his first save.

Clippers starter Hector Rondon surrendered seven runs on 10 hits in three innings, but the loss went to Josh Tomlin (0-1), who was reached for five runs on four hits in 1 2/3 frames.