Sabathia (4-8, 4.34 ERA), the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, had gone 0-3 with a 3.54 ERA in four starts, receiving eight total runs of support in that span.

The left-hander responded by throwing a five-hitter to lead the Indians (32-37) to a 1-0 win over Minnesota on Tuesday.

"My job is to keep it close and give us a chance to win," Sabathia said after pitching Cleveland’s first 1-0 decision over the Twins since Sam McDowell in 1969. "If that means giving up five and we score six, fine. (On Tuesday), though, I felt it was the best I've been all year."

Sabathia won his only game against the Padres (31-39) on June 11, 2003. He'll try to help Cleveland rebound from an 8-3 loss on Saturday as the Padres collected 13 hits, including a grand slam by Kevin Kouzmanoff in a five-run 10th inning. That came a night after the Indians took the series opener 9-5.

"I guess it's kind of bizarre that my first hit was a grand slam and now I'm playing my old team and I hit a grand slam," said Kouzmanoff, who hit a grand slam in his first major league at-bat with Cleveland on Sept. 2, 2006. "It's not like I was out there getting payback against the Indians. I have no negative feelings about the Indians for making a business decision."

Kouzmanoff, acquired from the Indians in a three-player trade after the 2006 season, is 5-for-9 with three doubles, a homer and six RBIs in the series after enduring an 0-for-16 slump in the previous five games.

Maddux (3-4, 3.33), who lost his only start against Cleveland on June 20, 2006, hopes Kouzmanoff and the offense can remain hot as he seeks his first win since becoming the ninth pitcher to reach 350 victories on May 10.

Since the four-time Cy Young winner joined that elite club, he's gone 0-1 with a 2.94 ERA in six starts, while the offense has supported him with 11 total runs.

Maddux appeared to be headed to a victory Tuesday, allowing one run and six hits in six innings and leaving with a one-run lead before six relievers and shoddy defense wasted his effort in a 7-2 loss to Los Angeles.

"There's not much you can do about it," Maddux said. "But you can't give a team five outs."

The Padres are now in position to take a series from the Indians for the first time after dropping the last two in 2003 and 2005, respectively.

Cleveland hopes to re-establish its offense after generating only four hits Saturday. The Indians scored 21 runs with 30 hits over the prior two games - both wins.

Jamey Carroll was 11-for-14 with a double and three RBIs in four games before going 0-for-4 on Saturday. The second baseman's outstanding stretch has increased his batting average 59 points to .277.