INDIANS Traber baffles New York hitters

He threw a one-hitter for his first-ever complete game, and Cleveland won 4-0.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Billy Traber entered the Indians' clubhouse soaked from head to toe following a 20-minute postgame workout on a stationary bike.
His spin through the New York Yankees was much easier.
Traber pitched a one-hitter for his first complete game, leading Cleveland to a 4-0 victory Tuesday night over the Yankees, who didn't start injured infielders Derek Jeter and Alfonso Soriano.
Making just his eighth start, Traber (4-5), whose only previous link to New York was as a Mets' prospect, dominated a depleted Yankees lineup that struggled with the left-hander's offspeed pitches and unorthodox delivery.
"That was all him," said Yankees manager Joe Torre, whose team was coming off two emotional wins over Boston. "He was terrific. Having our regular lineup out there wouldn't have made any difference. It was Greg Maddux-like."
Lone safety
The only hit Traber allowed was a leadoff single to John Flaherty in the third. He then retired 21 straight and 27 of 28. He walked none, struck out five and didn't allow a Yankee to reach second base.
Traber also came very close to pitching a perfect game.
He shook off rookie catcher Victor Martinez before throwing the 1-2 fastball that Flaherty lined cleanly into left field.
"Victor wanted a changeup," Traber said. "I threw it a little too far inside, and he got it."
Once it was over, Traber said he never gave the near perfect game or no-hitter a second thought.
"It doesn't matter," he said. "We won, right?"
Traber's one-hitter was the first by an Indians pitcher at Jacobs Field, and the first by a Cleveland pitcher since Bartolo Colon did it against the Yankees on Sept. 18, 2000.
Flaherty felt lucky to get the hit.
"With two strikes and it being the first time I've seen the guy, I had no idea what to expect," he said. "I was trying to hit it back up the middle, got jammed and was fortunate it got in there."
Offensive support
Matt Lawton homered, and Casey Blake had three hits off Jeff Weaver (4-7) as the Indians improved to 7-3 in their last 10 games.
Traber was coming off his worst career start, allowing seven runs and 11 hits in 22/3 innings on July 2 against Kansas City.
"I was awful," he said.
But he kept the Yankees guessing with a variety of breaking pitches, and had only five outs recorded by Indians outfielders.
"He had no predictability and that was impressive," Torre said. "I've seen lefties do that, frustrate teams."
The Indians scored two runs in the first off Weaver, who allowed three runs and seven hits in 72/3 innings while losing for the fifth time in seven starts.
Jeter and Soriano were kept out of the Yankees' starting lineup with sore hands after being hit with pitches by Boston's Pedro Martinez on Monday.
Jeter took a round of batting practice before Torre elected to keep his captain out. Soriano couldn't grip a bat when he arrived at the ballpark.
Jeter lined out to center while pinch-hitting in the ninth.
"I'm not sure having those guys would have made a difference," Torre said.
The way Traber was throwing, Jeter and Soriano might not have mattered.
"I know they were missing some guys," Traber said. "But that's still a professional hitting team."
Yankees' woes
Jeter's replacement at shortstop, rookie Erick Almonte, had his share of problems. He couldn't stop Blake's slow-rolling RBI single in the first. In the third, Almonte failed to turn a double play and made an error on a grounder by Blake that was right at him.
Cleveland scored twice in the first off Weaver, who was making his first start since June 29. Lawton reached on a one-out walk and scored on rookie Jody Gerut's RBI double.
Blake followed with a grounder to center that got under Almonte's glove for an RBI single.
Lawton led off the eighth with his 15th homer and eighth in 22 games. Martinez added an RBI single later in the inning off Chris Hammond.