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Sabathia wins fifth as Indians avoid sweep in Baltimore

May 6, 2007 - 11:01 PM BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- If only C.C. Sabathia could pitch every game for the Cleveland Indians.

The Indians remained perfect in starts by Sabathia and Trot Nixon went 5-for-5 with four RBI in a 9-6 victory Sunday over the Baltimore Orioles that avoided a three-game series sweep at Camden Yards.

Sabathia (5-0) allowed three earned runs, nine hits and one walk while striking out nine for the for the Indians, who improved to 7-0 in games started by the lefthander this season.

"It feels good that we have won every game that I have started this year," Sabathia said. "I put a lot of pressure on myself to win and it's been working out so far. I want to keep it up all year."

Off to the best start of his seven-year career, Sabathia joins Boston's Josh Beckett as the only American League five-game winners.

"He made the pitches he needed to," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "Seven innings and three runs, I will take that every time."

Starting in his first major league game, Baltimore's Brian Burres (0-1) took the loss, allowing five earned runs, seven hits and two walks while striking out three in 3 2/3 innings.

"(Burres is) usually a strike thrower and he got behind some hitters; I think he was trying to make some perfect pitches," Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo said. "That's not really the Burres that we know that we have, so we'll chalk that up maybe to nervous jitters."

Trailing, 3-1, in the fourth inning, Cleveland ended the 26-year-old lefthander's afternoon and pulled away for good.

With one out, Ryan Garko and Jhonny Peralta singled. Nixon followed with the third consecutive hit of the inning to score Garko and move Peralta to second. Casey Blake walked to load the bases.

Burres got Josh Barfield to pop out but allowed an RBI single to Grady Sizemore that knotted the game, 3-3, and brought Perlozzo to the mound.

"The biggest thing for us was to win the ballgame after losing the first two games," said Nixon, who recorded the first five-hit game of his career. "I was happy to contribute."

With the bases still full, reliever Kurt Birkins replaced Burres, who was starting in place of lefthander Adam Loewen, who was placed on the disabled list Friday with a stress fracture in his left elbow.

Jason Michaels nearly hit a grand slam on the first pitch he saw from Birkins, but the drive bounced high off the left field wall for a two-run double. Travis Hafner nearly added to the 5-3 lead, but a diving stop by Melvin Mora on a sharply hit grounder ended the inning.

The Indians reached Birkins for three more runs in the fifth.

With one out, the lefthander hit Garko and walked Peralta. Nixon doubled home Garko and Blake followed with a two-run double to make it 8-3.

The Orioles had an opportunity to get back into the game in the sixth but Sabathia pitched out of it, courtesy of the defensive play of the game.

Singles by Ramon Hernandez, Mora and Nick Markakis loaded the bases with one out. Sabathia battled back to strike out Kevin Millar and escaped the jam when Sizemore made an outstanding diving catch in deep right-center field on a drive by Corey Patterson.

"One of the best catches that I have every seen," Wedge said. "It was a ridiculous catch."

Baltimore brought the tying run to plate in the bottom of the ninth, but Joe Borowski got Mora to fly out to end the game and secured his 11th save.

"It was pretty much a game of inches for us today and the breaks didn't go our way," Perlozzo said. "Sizemore was all over the field. He's a good defensive player and he certainly helped their ballclub today."

Hernandez, who had four hits and four RBI, had a three-run double that gave Baltimore a 3-1 lead in the third.

"They really have a tough lineup. They made me work," Sabathia said. "It's better to be lucky than good."

Baltimore has dropped 10 of 13 games and fell to 16-27 against Cleveland since 2001.

Cleveland got a scare in the bottom of the seventh when Martinez, the team's starting catcher, was struck in the right forearm by Tejada's foul-tip. He remained in the game but was taken out at the end of the inning. X-rays on the arm were negative, and he is listed as day-to-day.