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Sabathia eyeing first Cy Young award

Sep 19, 2007 - 2:02 PM Detroit (83-69) at Cleveland (89-62) 12:05 pm EDT

CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- C.C. Sabathia is inching closer to the Cy Young Award while the Cleveland Indians are nearing their first American League Central Division title since 2001.

Sabathia and the Indians look to take another step toward accomplishing those goals Wednesday afternoon when they host the fading Detroit Tigers in the finale of a three-game series.

The lefthanded Sabathia (17-7, 3.21 ERA) has won three straight decisions and ranks in the top 10 in the AL in wins, ERA, innings (227) and strikeouts (198).

The 27-year-old had a career-high 13 strikeouts over seven innings Friday but did not factor in the decision of a 5-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

Sabathia's overwhelming success this season has mirrored that of the Indians, who boast the second-best record in baseball along with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (89-62).

The Indians rallied from an early three-run deficit Tuesday to post a 7-4 victory over the Tigers, increasing their cushion to 6 1/2 games in the AL Central.

Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez homered for Cleveland, which has won 24 of its last 32 games and owns an 11-6 mark this season against the reigning AL champion Tigers.

Detroit, which entered this series with a five-game winning streak, is quickly falling out of postseason contention. The Tigers also trail the New York Yankees (87-64) by 4 1/2 games in the AL wild card race.

The suddenly struggling Tigers send Nate Robertson (8-11, 4.93) to the mound Wednesday. The veteran lefthander hurled seven innings to earn the win Friday, allowing two runs with five strikeouts in a 4-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins.