INDIANS Vizquel reaches milestone in win

Cleveland ace C.C. Sabathia was scratched after injuring his biceps.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- A few hours after C.C. Sabathia felt something pop in his left shoulder while warming up, Omar Vizquel popped open a bottle of champagne.
But even with something to celebrate, the Cleveland Indians were in no mood to party after rallying for a 5-4 win Thursday over the Kansas City Royals.
Sabathia, the Indians' ace and franchise player, was scratched from the lineup just minutes before throwing his first pitch with soreness in his left shoulder.
Initially, the Indians feared the worst. Without Sabathia, they'd be in big trouble.
But as it turns out, Sabathia has an irritated biceps tendon and may not miss much time.
"We're encouraged by it," trainer Lonnie Soloff said.
And no doubt relieved.
Special moment
Vizquel was feeling a lot less pressure, too, after getting his 2,000th career hit to help set up Cleveland's three-run rally in the eighth inning.
"I'm glad it's over," said Vizquel, who had gone 0-for-7 since getting No. 1,999. "I've been thinking about it a lot."
Following the game, Vizquel was honored with a champagne toast and received two bottles of expensive red wine as gifts from teammate John McDonald.
The wines were a fine vintage. So was the single.
Vizquel's milestone hit -- he's the 230th player to reach 2,000 -- helped rally the Indians, who posted their first come-from-behind win of 2004.
"What made it so special was that we came from behind," said Vizquel, who started his career with Seattle. "That's something we've struggled with all year."
Vizquel then reached into his locker and proudly showed off his Napa Valley wines from McDonald.
"Good wine," Vizquel said, "and a good win."
Time to heal
Sabathia was pulled from what would have been his 100th career start about 15 minutes before he was scheduled to make his first pitch. Jeff D'Amico filled in for the left-hander, who was immediately taken for an MRI that showed the biceps irritation.
The Indians are off next Monday and Thursday, which will give Sabathia more time to heal.
Pitching coach Carl Willis said Sabathia threw about 20 warmup pitches in the center-field bullpen when he felt some soreness while tossing a changeup.
"Hopefully it was a freaky, fluky thing," Willis said.
Before the eighth, it appeared the Indians were headed for a third straight loss.
But after Ronnie Belliard walked, Vizquel singled to left off Jason Grimsley (1-1). Three batters later, Victor Martinez hit a game-winning RBI double off D.J. Carrasco.
Rafael Betancourt (1-2) pitched one inning for the win, and David Riske gave the Indians' beleaguered bullpen a lift by working the ninth for his second save.
Ken Harvey had four hits for the Royals.