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Apr. 27--CLEVELAND -- It's been a tough April for the Cleveland Indians, a stretch bogged down by lousy offense and spotty relief pitching. But things are quickly coming together and the Tribe looks quite a bit more like the team that was a win away from the World Series last October.
In a bizarre game full of plays that went against them, the Indians still managed to get in the last word Saturday. Victor Martinez's bases-loaded single in the bottom of the ninth drove in Grady Sizemore with the winning run as the Indians edged the New York Yankees, 4-3, before 35,765 in Progressive Field.
The Indians (12-12) have won a season-high five straight to get back to .500 for the first time since April 8. The Yankees have lost three straight to slip to 12-13.
Martinez lined a 2-ball, 1- strike pitch to left off reliever Ross Ohlendorf for the first walk-off hit of his big league career.
"We never give up," said Martinez, who's batting .373. "We've been going through some hard moments but there's nothing you can do about it. You just control the way you play and go out there and take care of business."
It was pretty amazing that the Indians were in position to get business done.
Jeremy Sowers, up from the Buffalo Bisons to start this game, battled through 5x innings and left with a 3-0 lead after loading the bases in the sixth. The Yankees quickly tied it on Jorge Posada's three-run pinch triple that was butchered into the tying hit by an ill-advised dive from left fielder David Dellucci.
Cleveland had two on in the sixth but Casey Blake lined into an inning-ending double play. In the eighth, second-base umpire Derryl Cousins blew a force-out call at second, ruling Martinez was out even though Robinson Cano never caught the ball and was way off the base.
But the bullpen kept the Tribe alive. Jensen Lewis escaped a two-on jam in the seventh, getting Alex Rodriguez to strike out on the 11th pitch of an at-bat. In the ninth, Masa Kobayashi induced Derek Jeter to hit into an inning-ending double play with two men on.
"Our guys really stood up to it," said manager Eric Wedge, who was ejected after the play in the eighth. "They kept pushing and it says a lot about the grit that those young men have in that clubhouse. We've seen it time and time again the last couple years and they just kept pushing and didn't give in."
Ohlendorf (0-1) took the loss, giving up three hits and a walk. The big question for Yanks manager Joe Girardi: Where was Joba Chamberlain in the ninth?
Chamberlain was seen in the clubhouse banging a towel against the carpet in frustration. There's growing concern about his health after he tweaked either a knee or hamstring (no one will say officially) on the mound in rainy Chicago while taking his first big-league loss Thursday night.
Strange Brew 
