OAKLAND, Calif. — Orlando Cabrera hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the ninth in his lone at-bat, Fausto Carmona won for the third time in four starts and the Cleveland Indians beat the Oakland Athletics 4-1 on Tuesday night for their seventh straight victory.

Matt LaPorta and Jack Hannahan hit back-to-back one-out singles off Brian Fuentes (1-3) in the ninth before Cabrera delivered against his former club. Asdrubal Cabrera then provided a two-run single as insurance.

LaPorta hit a tying RBI single in the seventh and the majors-best Indians produced another impressive win on a day that provided plenty of potential distraction for the AL Central leaders.

Before the game, outfielder Shin-Soo Choo apologized to each of his teammates individually in the clubhouse for his Monday arrest on suspicion of drunken driving and any embarrassment it caused.

After that, Choo pulled the Indians into a tight huddle near the dugout before pregame warmups and batting practice. He started in right field and batted third, going 0-for-4 with a walk. Choo was booed by the small announced crowd of 10,135.

Carmona (3-3), a 13-game winner and first-time All-Star last year, gave up only Kurt Suzuki’s RBI groundout in the fourth. He allowed five hits and one run, struck out five and walked one in eight strong innings — an efficient 96-pitch performance.

Chris Perez pitched a perfect ninth for his eighth save in nine tries and second in two games.

The Indians kicked off a six-game California road trip against the AL West by continuing the momentum they gained during a 6-0 homestand that gave them a 13-game winning streak at Progressive Field.

Cleveland is just 7-6 away from home and has lost nine of its last 10 series at the Coliseum. Winning the opener of this series is a good start considering the Indians dropped two of three in Oakland last year and were outscored 22-6 — with shutouts of 10-0 and 11-0.

Tyson Ross is still looking for his first win since joining the A’s rotation as a fill-in for the injured Dallas Braden.

Ross was rolling until allowing three singles in the seventh, including LaPorta’s tying base hit. Still, Ross has a 0.68 ERA in his last two starts, lowering him to 2.38 over six overall outings.

The right-hander pitched with runners on base in five of his six-plus innings but escaped trouble with some help from Oakland’s defense that went into the night tied with Houston for the major league lead in errors at 27.

The A’s turned a double play in the fourth following Carlos Santana’s leadoff single, then Suzuki made another stellar play in the fifth after Ross’ pitch to Grady Sizemore hit the dirt and bounced several feet away from the Oakland catcher. Suzuki quickly retrieved the ball then threw out Adam Everett trying to steal second.

But Oakland couldn’t produce enough offense after taking just three of four from the Rangers.

Veteran Cleveland designated hitter Travis Hafner, nursing a strained tendon in the bottom of his right foot, ran in the outfield to test his injury. He drew a pinch-hit walk in the seventh before being lifted for pinch-runner Orlando Cabrera.

Manager Manny Acta wanted to give Hafner one more day to heal, with the plan of starting Hafner in the middle game of the series Wednesday night. Hafner got hurt sliding into home plate to score against Kansas City last Wednesday night.

Notes

• The Indians are 16-2 when scoring four or more runs.
• Cabrera had the night off before entering to pinch run and then staying in at 2B.
• Cleveland RHP Mitch Talbot, on the disabled list with a strained elbow, threw all his pitches in a bullpen session. He is slated to throw another side this weekend in Anaheim before heading to Arizona to pitch in a rehab outing at extended spring training.
• The Indians are 5-2 vs. the AL West.