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 celebrates after scoring against the Oakland. (AP photo.)

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.

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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.

Choo

SHEFFIELD LAKE — Cleveland Indians outfielder Shin-Soo Choo was charged with DUI early Monday after a breathalyzer test revealed his Blood Alcohol Content was more than 2½ times the legal limit.

Choo was pulled over about 2:25 a.m. after he was spotted weaving in the 5500 block of Lake Road in Sheffield Lake by an officer who was on patrol in the area, according to a police report.

He left city jail after on a personal bond a few hours after his arrest.

The South Korean-born Choo failed several sobriety tests, including not being able to count past “five one thousand” and using the wrong fingers to touch his nose. He was placed under arrest at while at the station blew a .201 BAC on a breathalyzer test. The legal BAC limit in Ohio is .08.

Choo’s white vehicle had damage on the bumper area, including green paint and scratches, according to the report.

He is the second Cleveland player arrested for DUI this season. Outfielder Austin Kearns was charged prior to spring training with DUI in Kentucky.

Choo is with the Indians in Oakland and is expected to be in the lineup for the series opener with the A’s tonight at 10:07.

Choo issued the following statement:

“I sincerely apologize to my family, teammates, fans and the Indians’ organization for the attention stemming from this matter, however I am hopeful that this incident will not be a distraction to the Indians organization while we remain focused on continuing to play winning baseball. Since this is a legal matter, I look forward to it being resolved within the court system as soon as possible.”

COLUMBUS — Gas prices have set a new all-time high in Ohio for the second time in less than a week.

Auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express reported today that the statewide average price for regular-grade gasoline has reached $4.13 a gallon. That breaks the record of $4.11, set on Saturday.

Many analysts think the run-up in gas prices will not be long-lasting. They expect we’ll see prices going down by Memorial Day as more fuel becomes available.

Ohio’s prices are 16 cents above the national average for regular, now $3.97 a gallon. Among the state’s big metro areas, Cincinnati has the highest prices, with regular averaging $4.15.

By David Espo and Kimberly Dozier

WASHINGTON — Osama bin Laden, the face of global terrorism and architect of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, was killed in a firefight with elite American forces today, then quickly buried at sea in a stunning finale to a furtive decade on the run.

Long believed to be hiding in caves, bin Laden was tracked down in a costly, custom-built hideout not far from a Pakistani military academy.

Osama bin Laden

“Justice has been done,” President Barack Obama said in a dramatic announcement at the White House while a crowd cheered outside and hundreds more gathered at ground zero in Manhattan to celebrate the news.

The military operation took mere minutes.

U.S. helicopters ferrying elite counter-terrorism troops into the compound identified by the CIA as bin Laden’s hideout — and back out again in less than 40 minutes. Bin Laden was shot in the head, officials said, after he and his bodyguards resisted the assault.

Three adult males were also killed in the raid, including one of bin Laden’s sons, whom officials did not name. One of bin Laden’s sons, Hamza, is a senior member of al-Qaida. U.S. officials also said one woman was killed when she was used as a shield by a male combatant, and two other women were injured.

The U.S. official who disclosed the burial at sea said it would have been difficult to find a country willing to accept the remains. Obama said the remains had been handled in accordance with Islamic custom, which requires speedy burial.

“I heard a thundering sound, followed by heavy firing. Then firing suddenly stopped. Then more thundering, then a big blast,” said Mohammad Haroon Rasheed, a resident of Abbottobad, Pakistan, after the choppers had swooped in and then out again.

Bin Laden’s death marks a psychological triumph in a long struggle that began with the Sept. 11 attacks, and seems certain to give Obama a political lift. But its ultimate impact on al-Qaida is less clear.

The greatest terrorist threat to the U.S. is now considered to be the al-Qaida franchise in Yemen, far from al-Qaida’s core in Pakistan. The Yemen branch almost took down a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas 2009 and nearly detonated explosives aboard two U.S. cargo planes last fall. Those operations were carried out without any direct involvement from bin Laden.

The few fiery minutes in Abbottobad followed years in which U.S. officials struggled to piece together clues that ultimately led to bin Laden, according to an account provided by senior administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the operation.

Based on statements given by U.S. detainees since the 9/11 attacks, they said, intelligence officials have long known that bin Laden trusted one al-Qaida courier in particular, and they believed he might be living with him in hiding.

Four years ago, the United States learned the man’s identity, which officials did not disclose, and then about two years later, they identified areas of Pakistan where he operated. Last August, the man’s residence was found, officials said.

“Intelligence analysis concluded that this compound was custom built in 2005 to hide someone of significance,” with walls as high as 18 feet and topped by barbed wire, according to one official. Despite the compound’s estimated $1 million cost and two security gates, it had no phone or Internet running into the house.

By mid-February, intelligence from multiple sources was clear enough that Obama wanted to “pursue an aggressive course of action,” a senior administration official said. Over the next two and a half months, the president led five meetings of the National Security Council focused solely on whether bin Laden was in that compound and, if so, how to get him, the official said.

Obama made a decision to launch the operation on Friday, shortly before flying to Alabama to inspect tornado damage, and aides set to work on the details.

The president spent part of his Sunday on the golf course, but cut his round short to return to the White House for a meeting where he and top national security aides reviewed final preparations for the raid.

Two hours later, Obama was told that bin Laden had been tentatively identified.

CIA director Leon Panetta was directly in charge of the military team during the operation, according to one official, and when he and his aides received word at agency headquarters that bin Laden had been killed, cheers broke out around the conference room table.

Administration aides said the operation was so secretive that no foreign officials were informed in advance, and only a small circle inside the U.S. government was aware of what was unfolding half a world away.

In his announcement, Obama said he had called Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari after the raid, and said it was “important to note that our counter-terrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to bin Laden and the compound where he was hiding.”

One senior administration told reporters, though, “we were very concerned … that he was inside Pakistan, but this is something we’re going to continue to work with the Pakistani government on.”

The compound is about a half-mile from a Pakistani military academy, in a city that is home to three army regiments and thousands of military personnel. Abbottabad is surrounded by hills and with mountains in the distance.

Critics have long accused elements of Pakistan’s security establishment of protecting bin Laden, though Islamabad has always denied it, and in a statement the foreign ministry said his death showed the country’s resolve in the battle against terrorism.

Whatever the global repercussions, bin Laden’s death marked the end to a manhunt that consumed most of a decade that began in the grim hours after bin Laden’s hijackers flew planes into the World Trade Center twin towers in Manhattan and the Pentagon across the Potomac River from Washington. A fourth plane was commandeered by passengers who overcame the hijackers and forced the plane to crash in the Pennsylvania countryside.

In all, nearly 3,000 were killed in the worst terror attacks on American soil.

Former President George W. Bush, who was in office on the day of the attacks, issued a written statement hailing bin Laden’s death as a momentous achievement. “The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done,” he said.