CLEVELAND — The Indians passed a test of endurance Thursday night at Progressive Field. As a result, they also won a baseball game.
With both teams struggling to do much of anything besides pitch, Cleveland outlasted Seattle 3-2 in 11 innings to take the rubber match of a three-game series.
The Indians led by a run before squandering the advantage in the ninth inning, then fell behind in the 10th before tying it in the bottom half of the inning and winning it in the 11th.
“It was like pulling teeth tonight,” said Indians manager Eric Wedge, whose team won for the seventh time in 10 games. “Fortunately for us, Asdrubal (Cabrera) stepped up. He’s a big-game player.”
Cabrera’s two-out single with the bases full in the 11th scored pinch runner Jason Michaels with the winning run. Cleveland’s second baseman entered the game batting just .200 and was hitless in three official at-bats before lining an 0-1 offering from Seattle reliever Sean Green into right-center to touch off a bench-clearing celebration.
Both starting pitchers — Cleveland’s Paul Byrd and Seattle’s Miguel Batista — dominated the first seven innings, with the Indians scoring the only run over the span on a two-out double from Travis Hafner in the fourth.
The RBI was Hafner’s 459th as a designated hitter, tying him with Andre Thornton for the most by an Indians DH.
Wedge moved Hafner from third to sixth in the batting order, with the designated hitter looking comfortable in the spot, driving a pitch to the wall in the deepest part of the park in his first at-bat in the second, before snapping an 0-for-13 skid with the two-base hit.
Cleveland’s five through seven hitters — Jhonny Peralta, Hafner and Ryan Garko — entered the game on a combined 0-for-43 skid. Hafner and Garko had two hits apiece, while Peralta went 0-for-3 with a pair of walks.
Byrd (1-2, 3.74) offered up easily his best outing of the season, shutting out the Mariners on just four hits, while striking out four through 7 2/3 innings. The right-hander allowed three hits through the first three innings, then retired 14 of the last 16 batters he faced.
“I just thought he was fantastic tonight,” Wedge said. “He was efficient and was mixing up his pitches. He did a great job.”
The problem for the struggling Cleveland offense was that Batista, who entered with a 2-3 record and 5.26 ERA, was nearly as good, allowing just a run on four hits through seven innings.
Offensive inefficiency has been a trademark of Cleveland’s slow start to the season, with the Indians scoring three or fewer runs in five of their last eight games.
“Our at-bats have got to be better,” said Wedge, whose lineup produced hits in just two of the seven innings Batista worked. “We’ve got to do a better job sticking our nose in there with two strikes out. By no means have we been consistent.
“I’m as positive as I can be, but these guys have got to start turning the corner.”     
After taking the one-run lead in the fourth, the Indians stayed in front until the ninth when closer Rafael Betancourt entered for his third save opportunity.
Betancourt, who converted his first two chances after taking over for an injured Joe Borowski, failed this time around, but he had help.
With Ichiro Suzuki attempting to steal third base with one out, Casey Blake failed to secure a throw from catcher Victor Martinez that would have cut down Suzuki. Instead, Blake tried to make the tag before securing the ball and it hit off his glove and bounced into left field, allowing Suzuki to tie the game.
Former Indian Richie Sexson appeared to give the Mariners the game when he hammered the first pitch he saw from Masa Kobayashi in the 10th over the wall in left. It put Seattle up 2-1 and accounted for the 300th homer of Sexson’s career.
The Indians fought back to tie it in the bottom half of the 10th, when Seattle closer J.J. Putz walked Grady Sizemore with the bases full and one out.
Blake had a rough night, going 1-for-5 with four strikeouts and the big error, but was wearing a sigh of relief in the victorious clubhouse after the game.
“It was on me,” Blake said. “I don’t know what I would’ve felt like if we lost this game. To let your teammates down, there’s not a whole lot of feelings worse than that.
“That’s why we’re teammates. We pick each other up.”
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.

TONIGHT

WHO: Cleveland vs. Kansas City
TIME: 7:05
WHERE: Progressive Field
PITCHERS: Sabathia (1-4, 7.88 ERA) vs. Hochevar (1-1, 5.91)
TV/RADIO: SportsTime Ohio; WMMS 100.7-FM

 

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