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Cabrera lifts Indians to fifth straight win

Aug 13, 2008 - 3:30 AM By Todd Krepop PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- A trip to the minors and some extra work has paid dividends for Asdrubal Cabrera.

Cabrera hit a go-ahead single in the eighth inning to lead the Cleveland Indians to a 7-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night to extend their winning streak to five games.

Cabrera, who drove in the go-ahead run in Monday night's Cleveland win, had three hits in the game, giving him eight in his last 14 at-bats.

"I have been putting in a lot of work and it is helping," said Cabrera through a translator.

Rafael Perez (2-2) pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings to pick up the win and Jensen Lewis worked a perfect ninth for his second save as the Indians won five games in a row for the second time this season.

Cabrera was a big reason the Indians won the American League Central Division last season. He was promoted to the majors in August and batted .283 in his rookie season, but had trouble duplicating that success as he entered 2008 overweight and eventually was demoted to Class AAA Buffalo on June 9 after batting .184.

The demotion served as a wake-up call for Cabrera, who batted .326 in 34 games at Buffalo and was recalled after the All-Star break. The success in the minors carried over to the majors for Cabrera, who is batting .301 since his recall.

"I went down (to Buffalo) and worked on my hitting," Cabrera said. "That gave me confidence. I am helping the team offensively now and defensively."

"(Cabrera) is playing some good baseball," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "The kid has really worked hard in Buffalo and up here. He has had a better approach and he is in better shape."

Orioles reliever Jim Johnson (2-4) hit pinch hitter Shin-Soo Choo to start the winning rally for the Indians. Andy Marte moved Choo over to second with a sacrifice bunt. Cabrera worked the count to 2-0 before knocking a base hit up the middle to give the Indians the lead.

"Asdrubal did a good job of staying down through the pitch and shooting it back up the middle," Wedge said.

Ben Francisco added an insurance run with an RBI single after the Indians' bullpen cost another starter a win.

Trailing 5-3, Baltimore scored twice in the seventh to tie the game. Lou Montanez led off the inning with a single off Indians starter Jeremy Sowers, whose night was over after he retired the next batter.

Pinch hitter Luke Scott greeted reliever Masa Kobayashi with a double down the right field line and Brian Roberts followed with an RBI single to cut the Indians' lead to 5-4.

Nick Markakis followed with an RBI single off Perez to tie the game, but Perez regrouped to get a double play to keep the game tied.

Baltimore fell behind early in the game as Cleveland scored four runs in the first off starter Garrett Olson to erase the Orioles' 2-0 lead.

"The game is dictated by your starting pitcher and the ability or the inability to put zeroes on the board after you score," Baltimore manager Dave Trembley said.

Trembley was also not happy that his team equaled a season high with four errors.

"We didn't make the plays," he said. "That is part of the game. We have to do a better job tomorrow."

Sowers allowed four runs on six hits in 6 1/3 innings. He suffered the same fate as Fausto Carmona, who watched the Indians' bullpen blow a 7-4 lead Monday night after he exited.