Tribe salvages third game against Pirates

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Experience is usually a valuable asset in pro sports. The Cleveland Indians proved there's also something to be said for youthful resiliency.
The Indians bounced back after two potentially damaging losses to Pittsburgh on consecutive nights to rally from an early two-run deficit and beat the Pirates 8-5 Sunday.
C.C. Sabathia picked up a weary bullpen with six workmanlike innings and Casey Blake had three hits and two RBIs in the only game of the three-game interleague series that lasted the minimum nine innings.
Perhaps the Indians heeded manager Eric Wedge's brief pregame message that worrying about their consecutive 15-inning losses Friday and Saturday would only hurt them Sunday.
"We had a tough three days here ... we made a lot of mistakes, but a lot of good things happened, too," Wedge said.
Mostly, they began to happen in the second inning.
Rallied from behind
With the Pirates already up 2-0 on Sabathia (7-3) and looking to sweep, the Indians came back with three runs against Ryan Vogelsong (0-1), who was making his first major league start since 2001.
A four-run sixth inning against Vogelsong and reliever Joe Beimel followed as the Indians made certain they left Pittsburgh with more than just bad memories from one of the longest weekends in club history.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the first time the Indians have played consecutive 15-inning games in their history. What made all those long innings and long hours feel all the worse was they lost both games.
Blake, for example, was let down after he and shortstop John McDonald made consecutive errors on potential game-ending grounders in the ninth inning Saturday night. The Pirates went on to win 7-6 in the 15th, a night after Randall Simon's homer gave them a 5-4 victory in the 15th.
"It wasn't my night, it wasn't our night, but it didn't do a whole lot of good [to fret]," Blake said. "Jake Westbrook helped me out, gave me a little perspective. He said it wasn't my day, but that today [Sunday] would be my day."
It was. Blake hit a sacrifice fly in the three-run second and another in the four-run sixth, and Matt Lawton also drove in runs during both innings. Blake also doubled and scored on Ben Broussard's single in the fifth, and Milton Bradley added a two-run single in the sixth.
Youth rebounds quick
With nine rookies on their roster, the youthful Indians rebounded from the two troubling losses perhaps more quickly than a veteran team that has seen such losses send clubs into tailspins.
"We had to separate ourselves from yesterday and the day before that," Wedge said.
Sabathia (7-3) helped the Indians do that, lasting six innings even on a day he was clearly struggling. He walked four and gave up seven hits while throwing 120 pitches, yet left with an 8-3 lead.
"Most definitely, I knew I had to pitch deep into the game," Sabathia said. "We needed to get a win here. We had a good road trip (4-2), so we had to get out of here with a win."
The Pirates missed an opportunity to sweep the Indians for the second time in three seasons at PNC Park. Vogelsong never seemed to develop any confidence or rhythm in his first major league start since blowing out his right elbow in 2001, giving up 10 hits and seven runs in five innings.