CLEVELAND — Here’s something that hasn’t been said often if at all this season: The Indians are on a roll.
On the same day they waved goodbye to another one of their veteran players — pitcher Paul Byrd — the Indians again showed their post-trade resiliency by hanging a 7-5 loss on the Orioles on Tuesday night.
The Indians overcame a two-run deficit after the top of the first, then rallied to win with two runs in the eighth after squandering a 5-3 advantage through six innings.
It all added up to Cleveland’s fifth straight victory, which equals its season-high winning streak.
“The guys have been doing a good job,” said manager Eric Wedge, whose team has won eight of its last 10 games. “They’re playing with a lot of confidence. We’ve had some back-and-forth ballgames and they just keep coming.”
A sagging offense that has ranked near the bottom of the American League for much of the season has been at the forefront of the Indians’ recent surge. Cleveland reached double digits for the first time this month in a 13-8 victory over Baltimore in the series opener Monday and has collected 10 or more hits in each of its last four games — six of its last seven.
Indians hitters got started early, trumping Baltimore’s first-inning production off Cleveland starter Jeremy Sowers with four runs off left-hander Garrett Olson. But they had to fend off an Orioles charge against their struggling bullpen, which once again showed its vulnerability.
Masa Kobayashi allowed the Birds back in the game by allowing the tying runs in the seventh on two hits to the only batters he faced — a leadoff double to Luke Scott, followed by an RBI single from Brian Roberts.
Another run-scoring hit from Nick Markakis off Rafael Perez tied the game before Perez was able to induce an inning-ending double play and set the stage for more offensive heroics.
With reliever Jim Johnson on the mound for Baltimore, pinch hitter Shin-Soo Choo was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, with Andy Marte advancing him to second on a sacrifice bunt.
Choo rode home with the game-winning run on a single from Asdrubal Cabrera, with the Indians adding insurance on an RBI single from Ben Francisco.
It was the third hit of the night for Cabrera, whose offensive woes seem to have disappeared since his return from Triple-A Buffalo. He is batting .353 (18-for-51) with four doubles, three home runs and seven RBIs over his last 15 games.
“He’s been really playing some good baseball,” Wedge said. “He really worked hard at Buffalo and he’s worked hard since he’s been up here.”
It was an adequate outing for Sowers, who overcame the rough start to allow four runs on six hits through 6 1/3 innings. He allowed just two runs on four hits after the first, retiring the side in order in the second, fourth and sixth.
“The first inning was a little shaky,” said Sowers, who still owns just a win in 14 starts. “Sometimes as a starting pitcher it’s tough to come out of the gate and have your stuff. I consider it a positive that I didn’t let things spiral downward after that.”
“Jeremy gave us a chance to win the ballgame,” Wedge said. “He has to do a better job of having it when he gets out there, not having to work his way into it. I think at times he tries to be a little too fine.”
Jensen Lewis was on the mound in the ninth inning for the second consecutive night, earning the save with a 1-2-3 finish.
Lewis is the latest pitcher to audition for the closer role.
“You’ve got to be able to believe in yourself and keep the game small,” Lewis said. “You don’t want to make the ninth inning any bigger than it already is.”
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. 

TONIGHT

WHO: Cleveland vs. Baltimore
TIME: 7:05
WHERE: Progressive Field
PITCHERS: Reyes (3-1, 3.86 ERA) vs. Guthrie (9-8, 3.26)
TV/RADIO: SportsTime Ohio; WTAM 1100-AM

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