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The Tribe barely had to take the bat off of their shoulders to win this one. With the game tied at 1 in the bottom of the ninth, all the Indians had to do was watch as two Tampa Bay relievers combined to walk four batters to give the Tribe a 2-1 win. Jhonny Peralta let ball four pass with the bases loaded for his second RBI of the night.

“That was a professional at-bat by Jhonny,” Michaels said. “That was a tough situation. With one out and that guy throwing 175 mph, it was a good at-bat.”

In his second major league start, Indians pitcher Brian Slocum got the win as he struck out five in six innings. The Tribe only managed five hits but it was all they would need as they won for the sixth time in their last seven games. It wasn’t your typical last at-bat dramatic victory, but the Tribe will take what they can get. They have put together a nice string of wins here at the end of the season and have a chance to finish on a very positive note.

Paul Byrd was able to salvage a bad month by winning his last start of the season Thursday. Despite the win, Byrd was clearly unhappy and disappointed with the way he has pitched this season and wants to do all he can to fix whatever was wrong. He finished the season 10-9 with a 4.88 ERA.

“It feels good to win, but it’s just a small feel-good,” said Byrd, who expressed appreciation for fan support despite a disappointing season by flinging his jersey to a youngster sitting behind the Indians’ dugout after the game.

“The Cleveland fans have been great,” said Byrd, who was signed to a two-year, $14.25 million contract as a free agent last December by general manager Mark Shapiro.

“Shapiro put his confidence in me and I felt like I couldn’t answer,” Byrd said. “I have to figure out why and that starts tomorrow, so I can get it done next season.”

With an ERA near 5, Byrd did not pitch up to expectations this season and he has a right to be a little upset with himself. He is a veteran pitcher and hopefully will be able to work through some of his problems because the Indians are going to need him next season.

The Indians dug themselves out of an early hole and prevailed in a 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays Thursday night. Paul Byrd had a rocky start, allowing the Rays to jump out to a 4-0 lead before Andy Marte’s two-run blast cut the deficit in half in the fifth inning. Grady Sizemore had another big night offensively, going 3-for-4 and hitting the game-tying homer in the seventh. In that same inning, Ryan Garko doubled in what proved to be the game-winner. Matt Miller and Rafael Betancourt combined for two scoreless innings of relief, the latter getting the save.

Terry Pluto makes a strong argument that the Indians don’t need to mess around with first base for next season. Ryan Garko fits their needs very well.