Thu May 1 23:24:58 2008

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Cabrera's game-winning hit ends Indians' battle with Mariners

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Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - Asdrubal Cabrera's two-out RBI single broke an 11th-inning tie and gave the Cleveland Indians a 3-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners in the rubber match of their three-game series.

Masahide Kobayashi (2-0) got the win for Cleveland, which has prevailed in two straight, despite allowing the go-ahead homer in the 10th by serving up Richie Sexson's 300th career home run. Travis Hafner and Ryan Garko each went 2- for-4, with Hafner totaling two doubles and a run batted in. Grady Sizemore drove in the other Indians run with a bases-loaded 10th-inning walk.

Rafael Betancourt, who allowed three runs in just a third of an inning during Tuesday's series-opening loss, blew a save by yielding the tying run in the ninth. That wasted a sparkling effort from starter Paul Byrd, who held the Mariners scoreless over 7 2/3 innings, allowing just four hits while striking out four.

Mark Lowe (1-2) took the loss and J.J. Putz blew his second save of the season in the 10th after Sexson had given Seattle a 2-1 lead. Ichiro Suzuki went 3- for-5 and single-handedly manufactured the tying run in the ninth, while M's starter Miguel Batista tossed seven solid innings, allowing just a run on four hits and fanning six.

Arthur Rhodes tossed a shutout eighth for Seattle, and Ichiro led off the ninth with his third hit of the night, a single to right. But Jose Lopez, instead of attempting a sacrifice bunt, swung away and flew out to straight- away center for the first out.

With the count 0-2 to Raul Ibanez, Betancourt fired a wild pitch, allowing Ichiro to scamper down to second. Ibanez fouled a pitch off before Betancourt's next offering was high, and Ichiro took off for third. Indians catcher Victor Martinez's throw was on target, but third baseman Casey Blake tried to make a swipe tag before actually catching it, and Ichiro jogged home to tie the game as the ball trickled into foul territory.

Ibanez ultimately popped up for the second out, and although Adrian Beltre followed with a single, Betancourt escaped the inning by getting Jose Vidro to fly to center. Rhodes then retired David Dellucci and Martinez for the first two outs of the home half before Brandon Morrow came on and got Jhonny Peralta looking to send it to extras.

Sexson, leading off the top of the 10th, sized up a first-pitch fastball from Kobayashi and slammed it well over the left-field fence for the milestone homer and a 2-1 Seattle advantage.

Kobayashi got through the rest of the frame without further damage, and Cleveland tied the game against Putz in the home 10th. Garko lined a one-out single to left, and Franklin Gutierrez followed with a single to right. Putz then walked Cabrera and Sizemore in succession, forcing in Jamey Carroll, who had come on as a pinch-runner for Garko.

Cleveland couldn't push the winning run across in that frame, but after Kobayashi escaped a two-on, one-out jam in the top of the 11th, Peralta worked a one-out walk and Hafner doubled to start the Indians rally against Lowe. Carroll was hit by a pitch, loading the bases, and Jason Michaels came on to pinch-run for Peralta at third while Sean Green replaced Lowe on the hill.

Green struck out Gutierrez, and could see his way out of the situation, but Cabrera lined an 0-1 fastball over the second baseman's head to score Michaels and give the Tribe the win.

Cabrera finished the night 1-for-4 with a walk, and Cleveland salvaged the series despite leaving 10 runners on base.

Sexson finished 2-for-4 for Seattle, and became the fastest player in Mariners franchise history to reach the 300-homer plateau, accomplishing the feat at the age of 33 fewer than 5,000 at-bats into his major league career.

Martinez doubled to right with one out in the fourth, then scored when Hafner smoked a two-out double into the right-field corner. Garko then lined a single to center, but Ichiro fired a perfect one-hop throw to nail Hafner at the plate, keeping the score at 1-0.

Byrd was cruising, holding the Mariners scoreless through six, but Batista kept his team within striking distance by working out of potential jams in the sixth and seventh.

Byrd walked Mariners catcher Jeff Clement to start the top of the eighth, and Clement was replaced on the basepaths by pinch-runner Willie Bloomquist. But Byrd regrouped to strike out Wladimir Balentien for the third time on the night, then got Yuniesky Betancourt to line to second before being lifted in favor of lefty Rafael Perez.

Perez was ahead of Ichiro 0-2 when Bloomquist tried to run on Martinez, who threw a seed down to second to easily get the runner and end the inning.

Game Notes

Through eight inning and thanks mostly to the efficient work of Byrd and Batista, the game cruised along in fewer than two hours, but totaled three hours and 34 minutes...Cleveland struck out 13 times as a team, yet still managed its third walk-off win of the season...Martinez finished 1-for-5 and extended his hitting streak to 13 games. Garko snapped an 0-for-25 streak...Seattle's Lopez, who finished 1-for-5, has hit safely in 11 straight games...Prior to the game, Seattle learned that Buzzie Bavasi, father of Mariners GM Bill Bavasi and a two-time executive of the year, had died at the age of 93.