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Peralta lifts Indians over Rangers in extra innings

Apr 26, 2007 - 4:41 AM CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- The Cleveland Indians didn't make things easy on themselves.

Jhonny Peralta's single in the bottom of the 11th inning scored Victor Martinez and gave the Indians an 8-7 victory over the Texas Rangers.

Fernando Cabrera (1-0) earned the win for the Indians, who gave up leads of 6-0 and 7-6 before finally finishing things in the 11th inning. The righthander tossed two scoreless innings of relief, allowing one hit and no walks while striking out five.

"For us to grind out a win like this, in extra innings, is something we didn't do last year," Cleveland starter C.C. Sabathia said. "Hopefully we can carry this throughout the season."

Martinez led off the 11th with a double down the right field line off reliever Willie Eyre (1-1). Kelly Shoppach followed with a single up the middle and Martinez was held up at third base.

After Eyre struck out Jason Michaels, Peralta hit the first pitch he saw past third baseman Hank Blalock and into left field.

"I was going to swing at the first pitch," Peralta said. "I didn't know what he was going to throw, but I was going to swing at anything. I put it in play and it found a hole."

Cleveland took the early lead with five runs in the second inning without the benefit of an extra-base hit.

With one out, Ryan Garko was hit by a pitch, Trot Nixon singled and Peralta walked to load the bases. Shin-Soo Choo reached second base on a throwing error by second baseman Ian Kinsler, which allowed Garko and Nixon to score.

Peralta scored from third moments later on Josh Barfield's groundout and Choo crossed home plate when Grady Sizemore followed with a base hit. After Sizemore stole second base, he came in to score the fifth run of the inning on Casey Blake's single.

Cleveland extended the lead to 6-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning on an RBI single by Travis Hafner.

Sabathia allowed just one hit and one walk through five innings, but things fell apart in the sixth.

With one out, Gerald Laird and Jerry Hairston hit back-to-back singles. Ian Kinsler cut Cleveland's lead in half when he lifted his eighth home run of the season over the wall in left-center.

Michael Young and Mark Teixeira kept the rally going with back-to-back singles, setting the table for Sammy Sosa, who drove in both baserunners with a double off the crown of the left field wall to make it 6-5.

"(Sabathia) looked the same as he did (through five innings)," Young said. "He was typical C.C. We just managed to get a few hits off of him to get back in the game."

With the Indians' lead down to one run, Sabathia regained his earlier form, striking out Blalock and Nelson Cruz to escape further damage.

"They put some good swings on the ball that inning," Sabathia said. "Besides the changeup I hung to Kinsler, they were good pitches. They made adjustments and I didn't see it until it was too late."

Sosa missed a home run by inches and remains stuck at 592 for his career. It would have been his first blast at Jacobs Field, one of three current major league stadiums that Sosa has not homered in. The others are the new Busch Stadium in St. Louis and RFK Stadium in Washington.

Cleveland padded the lead in the seventh on a two-out bases-loaded single by Choo that scored Hafner. However, a two-out RBI single by Sosa in the eighth off Rafael Betancourt trimmed the lead to 7-6.

Joe Borowski failed to convert the save in the the ninth inning. The righthander allowed a leadoff walk to Laird. After Jerry Hairston Jr. popped out, pinch runner Kenny Lofton stole second base on the second pitch to Kinsler.

Borowski struck out Kinsler for the second out as Lofton swiped third base on the play. Young drove in Lofton with the tying run, doubling to the wall in center field on the first pitch. After an intentional walk to Teixeira, Borowski ending the inning with a strikeout of Matt Kata.

"It hurts to battle back like that and lose at the end," Young said. "We have to be more consistent. You can't pat yourself on the back for coming back if you didn't play well the first two innings."

The teams combined for 32 strikeouts and the Rangers set a franchise record by fanning 19 times. Blalock and Brad Wilkerson each struck out four times.

"I don't know what led to that," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "You don't like to see it, but that many strikeouts doesn't bother me at all. We still could have won the game."

Sabathia allowed five runs, seven hits and a walk while striking out eight in six innings.

Texas starter Vicente Padilla allowed six runs - two earned - and five hits in four innings. The righthander also walked three and struck out four.