TORONTO, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- C.C. Sabathia tuned up for his Game 3 start in the Division Series by tossing five effective innings Sunday as the Cleveland Indians avoided a fifth straight loss with a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.
The rookie righthander limited the Blue Jays, who had won four in a row, to just one run and one hit. He struck out out five while walking two.
Cleveland opens the American League Division Series on Tuesday night in Seattle and Sabathia (17-5), who leads the team in victories after making the jump from Class AA Akron this year, will take the mound Saturday against baseball's best team.
Russell Branyan hit his 20th homer and Eddie Taubensee and Karim Garcia also drove in runs for the Indians (91-71), who dropped five straight games only once this season, from June 14-19. Cleveland was one game better than last year, when it finished five games behind the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central.
The Blue Jays (80-82), who received another strong outing from rookie Brandon Lyon (5-4), failed in their bid to reach .500 and were three games worse than 2000, which also produced a third-place finish in the East.
