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Cleveland Indians appear to getting back on track, and so is C.C. Sabathia.
The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner takes the mound tonight in search of a third straight strong start as the Indians open up a three-game series with the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field.
Sabathia has rebounded from a horrid first four starts of the season in which the towering left-hander went 0-3 with a 13.50 earned run average and didn't pitch more than 5 1/3 innings. He then twirled six shutout frames against the Royals on April 22, yielding just four hits and striking out 11 Kansas City batters in the process.
The three-time All-Star backed that effort up with eight outstanding innings in a hard-luck loss to the Yankees on Sunday. Sabathia gave up just one run, which came on a solo homer by New York's Melky Cabrera, and fanned eight batters but was outdueled by Chien-Ming Wang in a 1-0 setback.
Sabathia's stellar showing in Kansas City earlier this season improved him to 14-8 with a 3.27 ERA in 29 lifetime starts against the Royals.
Cleveland appears to have put a slow overall start in the rear view mirror as well, as the club has won seven times over its last 10 games and is fresh off back-to-back home victories over Seattle. The Indians had to work extra for the latest triumph, however, as Asdrubal Cabrera came through with a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the 11th inning to give his team a 3-2 win over the visiting Mariners.
The Tribe also rallied with a run in the 10th off Seattle closer J.J. Putz, after the Mariners took a brief 2-1 lead in the top of the frame on Richie Sexson's solo homer off Masahide Kobayashi (2-0).
The Mariners sent the contest into extra innings with a run in the top of the ninth. Ichiro Suzuki singled and later stole third base, with the All-Star outfielder crossing the plate on a missed catch error by Cleveland third baseman Casey Blake.
That wasted an excellent start from Paul Byrd, who held Seattle scoreless over 7 2/3 innings and gave up just four hits.
Travis Hafner and Ryan Garko each went 2-for-4 in the win, with Hafner totaling two doubles and a run batted in.
The Royals are in quite a tailspin at the moment, having suffered defeats in 10 of their 13 most recent games. The latest two losses came at the hands of the Texas Rangers, who defeated Kansas City by a 2-1 score in the rubber match of a three-game series in Arlington on Thursday.
Sidney Ponson was brilliant for the Rangers, as the veteran tossed eight innings of one-run ball, while Ramon Vazquez hit a tie-breaking solo home run in the sixth inning that put Texas up for good.
Zack Greinke (3-1) allowed Vazquez's shot and suffered his first loss of the season, despite surrendering just two runs and four hits over seven innings and racking up nine strikeouts.
Mark Grudzielanek knocked in the Royals' lone run with a third-inning single, while David DeJesus finished 2-for-3 in the loss.
Former No. 1 overall pick Luke Hochevar makes his third start for the Royals since being recalled from the minors in mid-April tonight. The highly-touted right-hander was very sharp his last time out, as Hochevar held Toronto to a run on six hits over six innings on Saturday to record his first major league win.
Hochevar struggled in his season debut on April 20, when he was reached for six runs and nine hits in just 4 2/3 innings during a loss at Oakland.
The 24-year-old did make a start against the Indians in Kansas City last September. Hochevar was hung with a loss in that game after giving up a pair of runs in a three-inning stint.
Cleveland swept a three-game series from the Royals at Kauffman Stadium last month and has won nine of the last 11 meetings in this series. Kansas City lost six of nine matchups with the Tribe in Cleveland last season and is just 5-13 at Progressive Field since the start of the 2006 campaign.
