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Cabrera lifts Indians over Mariners

May 2, 2008 - 4:00 AM By Todd Krepop PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Asdrubal Cabrera picked the right time to end his slump.

Cabrera hit a walk-off single with the bases loaded in the 11th inning as the Cleveland Indians defeated the Seattle Mariners, 3-2, on Thursday night.

Mark Lowe (1-2) retired the first batter he faced in the 11th, but walked Jhonny Peralta after being ahead 0-2. Travis Hafner then blooped a double into shallow left and Lowe hit Jamey Carroll to load the bases.

Sean Green entered and promptly struck out Franklin Gutierrez, but couldn't escape the jam as Cabrera lined the ball into the right-center gap.

"I was very calm," said Cabrera through a translator. "I was looking for a pitch to drive."

The hit snapped an 0-for-14 slump for Cabrera, who once was prospect in the Mariners organization.

"I have been putting in a lot of hard work," he said. "Hopefully it is beginning to pay off."

Masa Kobayashi (2-0) picked up the win despite giving up a home run to Richie Sexson to start the 10th

Sexson's 300th career home run - 100th as a Mariner - gave Seattle a 2-1 lead, but closer J.J. Putz couldn't hold the lead.

Putz struck out Hafner to start the inning, but allowed consecutive singles to Ryan Garko and Franklin Gutierrez. A walk to Cabrera loaded the bases and Putz walked Grady Sizemore on five pitches to tie the game at 2-2.

"The walks will kill you," Putz said. "I fell behind and got in trouble. My job is to come and get ahead. It is really frustrating."

Cleveland had a chance to win the game, but Putz recovered to strike out Casey Blake and David Dellucci.

"It was like pulling teeth," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "I wasn't happy with our at-bats. Our at-bats have to get better."

Trailing 1-0, Seattle scored a run on Blake's error to tie the game. Ichiro Suzuki led off the inning with a single off closer Rafael Betancourt. After moving to second on a wild pitch, Ichiro attempted to steal third.

Catcher Victor Martinez's throw looked like it would have been in time to nail Ichiro at third, but Blake missed the ball, allowing Ichiro to score.

"I don't know what I would have felt like if we lost," Blake said. "To let your team down, there isn't a worse feeling that."

Blake's error wasted a marvelous pitching performance from Cleveland starter Paul Byrd, who pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings. He struck out four and walked only one.

Byrd allowed only one runner - Ichiro - to reach second with two outs in the sixth. He didn't allow a leadoff hitter to reach base until a walk to Jeff Clement in the eighth.

Seattle starter Miguel Batista matched Byrd, allowing just one run on four hits in seven innings. He struck out six and walked three, but couldn't get through the fifth unscathed, giving up an RBI double to Hafner.

"We scraped to get back," Mariners manager John McLaren said. "Richie put us ahead, but we couldn't close the door.