Dodgers hold on to avoid sweep

Los Angeles made a critical defensive play in the fifth and beat Cleveland, 4-3.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers went cold after a fast start at the plate against Paul Byrd.

They managed to hold on because of their bullpen and defense.

Russell Martin capped a four-run first inning with a two-run homer, four relievers held Cleveland to one hit over the final four innings and Los Angeles beat the Indians 4-3 on Sunday to avoid a three-game sweep in the first series between the teams at Chavez Ravine.

The Dodgers also made a critical defensive play in the fifth. The Indians were trailing 4-3 with two outs and a runner on first when David Dellucci doubled down the right-field line.

Third base coach Joel Skinner waved Jhonny Peralta home but Andre Ethier slid in the corner to keep the ball from getting past him and relayed to second baseman Luis Maza, whose throw was in plenty of time for Martin to slap the tag on Peralta.

“It was the right thing to do,” Indians manager Eric Wedge said. “If he doesn’t, they’ll just walk Kelly Shoppach with the pitcher coming up next. So Joel has to be aggressive right there. Ethier cutting the ball off was the key, no doubt about it — because if the ball gets by him, Jhonny’s going to score.”

Chad Billingsley (6-7) allowed three runs and eight hits in five innings for the Dodgers, throwing 108 pitches.

All of Cleveland’s runs came in the third on an RBI single by Ryan Garko and run-scoring groundouts by Shin-Soo Choo and Casey Blake.

“He looked like he was getting a little frustrated — a couple of groundballs finding holes and walking a few guys,” Martin said. “I just told him that once things happen, you can’t change them.

“So you’ve just got to keep your head in the game and keep battling. He did enough to keep us in the game and keep the lead.”

Cleveland’s starting pitchers have failed to go at least five innings in only seven of the team’s last 61 games. Byrd (3-8) appeared to be heading in that direction for the fourth time in his last five outings.

Juan Pierre led off the first with a single, Matt Kemp followed with a ground-rule double and James Loney drove in both of them with another double.

Martin then hit a 2-2 fastball into the left-field pavilion for his seventh home run. It was the 20th allowed by Byrd, who reached that figure for the fourth straight season.

“That was obviously all the offense we could muster,” manager Joe Torre said. “He had a very low pitch count today. He throws a lot of strikes, but you still have to make up your mind what you want to hit.

“When you keep looking for the last pitch he threw, that’s when you get into trouble. We need more patience. We’ve got to have a plan.”

Byrd retired 12 of his next 13 batters and limited the Dodgers to just two singles after Martin’s homer. Both of them were in the fifth with none out, but Byrd retired Kemp on a double-play grounder and got Loney to fly out.

“I just have to be positive and look at the fact that I came back and made some good pitches after that. But I’m still frustrated,” Byrd said. “It’s not real fun to turn around after facing four hitters and seeing someone warming up in your bullpen with the score 4-0. That’s a pretty miserable feeling.”

Byrd matched his loss total from last season, when he was 15-8. He dropped his third straight start since recording his 100th career victory on June 6 at Detroit, allowing four runs and seven hits over seven innings.