Tribe holds off Twins, 2-1

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Almost three hours after Bob Wickman squatted to catch the ceremonial first pitch, he threw the last one to silence Minnesota.
Wickman stranded the tying run at third base in the ninth inning and sent the Cleveland Indians to a 2-1 win over the Twins in a peaceful series opener between the bitter AL Central rivals on Monday night.
The Indians, starting a 13-game stretch in which they'll face either Minnesota or first-place Chicago 10 times, have won three straight and are inching closer to .500.
"This was another big win," said Wickman. "We're all chasing the White Sox. But we need to get to .500 first."
Before the teams renewed their heated rivalry, Wickman went out to catch the first pitch thrown by Joe Ladd, the president of "Wickman's Warriors", the closer's official fan club.
"I'm glad he threw a perfect one," said Wickman. "I was nervous. I'm not too mobile and I was worried because I had all those people behind me getting ready to sing the national anthem."
No brushbacks, beaning or barking
For one of the few times in the past few seasons, the Twins and Indians stuck to baseball without any brushbacks, beanings or barking.
There was barely a tight pitch or menacing glare between the clubs, who have been at odds the past few years. Before the series started, Major League Baseball warned the teams to behave, sending a letter to both managers to keep their players in line.
"I think it's kind of been overblown," said Indians starter Scott Elarton, proudly wearing his blue "Wickman's Warriors" T-shirt complete with its "In Bob We Trust" insignia. "It's a mutual respect more than anything."
Martinez drives in winner
In the eighth, Martinez, who was in a 1-for-24 slump, broke a 1-1 tie by hitting a liner to center that scored Jhonny Peralta.
Arthur Rhodes (3-1) pitched one perfect inning, striking out two, for the win. Wickman gave up a one-out double that just missed being a homer to Torii Hunter, who advanced on a groundout. After a two-out walk, Wickman got Michael Cuddyer to ground out for his 13th save in 15 tries.
Peralta opened the eighth with a check-swing single off starter Kyle Lohse (3-3), who felt he made a good pitch to the shortstop.
"It's disappointing that it led to the winning run," Lohse said. "That's the way it goes sometimes."
Grady Sizemore sacrificed and Casey Blake followed with a single, but Peralta was held at third. Gardenhire brought in left-hander Romero to face Travis Hafner, who came in batting just .167 against lefties but walked.
Martinez fell behind 0-1 before hitting his liner at Hunter, who had to take a few steps back to make the catch and had no chance of throwing out Peralta. It was only the second RBI since May 8 for Martinez, who drove in 108 last season.
"It's nice to see him come up with a big hit," Indians manager Eric Wedge said of Martinez, who is batting just .191.
Twins tie game in seventh
Shut out for six innings by Elarton and Scott Sauerbeck, the Twins tied it 1-1 in the seventh on Cuddyer's two-out RBI double off Rafael Betancourt.
Elarton pitched 51/3 shutout innings, allowing four hits. He was lifted after striking out Nick Punto to open the sixth, but understood why Wedge pulled him.
"I would have done the same thing," Elarton said. "I had thrown 92 pitches. I told him [Wedge] that."
Lohse gave up two runs and seven hits in 71/3 innings, but lost for the first time in five starts.
Aaron Boone's baffling batting slump -- he came in hitting .156 -- was momentarily forgotten in the second when his RBI double gave the Indians a 1-0 lead.
Boone preserved Elarton's lead in the fourth with a diving stop at third that saved at least one run.