CLEVELAND — It was the toughest of tests for Josh Tomlin, who faced the vaunted New York Yankees and their ace, former Indian CC Sabathia, in his major league debut Tuesday night at Progressive Field.

He passed with flying colors.

Tomlin, an unheralded right-hander who was a surprise pick to replace an injured Aaron Laffey in the rotation, proved the Indians made the right choice, dealing Cleveland past New York 4-1 to even the four-game series at a win apiece.

Looking like a crafty veteran rather than an unproven rookie, Tomlin held the powerful Yanks in check for the duration of his seven-inning outing, allowing just a run on three hits. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out two.

In the process, he and the Indians made national news by preventing Alex Rodriguez from hitting his 600th home run. Rodriguez went hitless in three at-bats off Tomlin and one against Chris Perez, going 0-for-8 over the first two games of the series.

“It was an outstanding effort by the kid,” said Cleveland manager Manny Acta of Tomlin, who allowed his only run in the eighth inning after surrendering a leadoff double to Nick Swisher and being removed. “He pitched a great game and wasn’t going to be intimidated. The game didn’t speed up on him at all. He looked very comfortable.”

According to Tomlin, whose parents were in attendance, looks were understandably deceiving. He admitted to being nervous, but it was tough to tell and it didn’t last long.

More photos below.

“It took me a while to settle in but after that first inning I was more comfortable,” said Tomlin, who allowed just one hit over the first six innings. “I’m just going out there trying to throw strikes and make them put the ball in play.

“It was pretty exciting. It was awesome.”

Using all five of his pitches effectively, Tomlin stuck with the gameplan he brought to the mound, and New York’s hitters never figured him out.

“The second and third time around (the lineup) is tough because hitters make adjustments,” Acta said. “But when you can command and locate the way this kid did, you can adjust all you want.”

“I didn’t want them to think I was going to be nibbling all night,” Tomlin said. “I tried to go right after them and throw strikes.”

It was the second time in less than two weeks that the Indians got a win from a pitcher making his major league debut. Jeanmar Gomez beat the Tigers in his first big league start on July 18.

It is the first time Cleveland has got two wins from pitchers making their debut since 1922 – Dewey Metivier and Phil Bedgood.

The victory was enhanced not just by beating the Yankees, but by beating Sabathia, who pitched for Cleveland from 2001-08 and won the Cy Young award with the Indians in ’07.

Sabathia had won nine straight decisions and had not lost since May 23, but his old team welcomed him rudely, scoring four runs (two earned) on nine hits over seven innings.

The Indians scored twice off Sabathia in the fourth inning, then added two more in the sixth, the last run coming when Sabathia walked No. 9 hitter Chris Gimenez with the bases loaded.

“Our guys put up some good at-bats against a tough pitcher,” Acta said.

Matt LaPorta, the key player acquired when the Indians traded Sabathia to Milwaukee during the 2008 season, drove in two runs off the large left-hander.

LaPorta said there was nothing special about facing Sabathia.

“He’s a great pitcher and he’s going out there trying to compete against me,” said LaPorta, who drove in Cleveland’s second run in the fourth with a sacrifice fly and the first run in the sixth with a double to left-center. “I’m going out there trying to compete against him.”

Though the Indians owned a three-run lead, there were still some anxious moments in the ninth, with the Yankees starting off the inning with hits from Brett Gardner and Derek Jeter against Perez. Jeter and Robinson Cano had the only hits off Tomlin.

Perez got stingy after that, striking out Swisher and getting Mark Teixeira to pop out, bringing Rodriguez to the plate for one more shot at history.

Perez threw two pitches to Rodriguez before the Yanks’ third baseman grounded into a fielder’s choice out to end the game.

“Don’t give it up. Don’t let No. 600 be a big one,” Perez said, when asked what he was thinking as Rodriguez came to the plate. “It was a big win for us. We beat the Yankees with their big gun CC on the mound. That makes it even sweeter because of the history he has here.”

Still, the night belonged to Tomlin.

“It looked like he was back in the minor leagues pitching a game, but it was a game against the Yankees,” Perez said.

Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.