ANAHEIM, Calif. — Mitch Talbot took a shutout into the ninth inning and the Cleveland Indians got home runs from Asdrubal Cabrera and Matt LaPorta to beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-0 Monday night for their eighth straight win.

The winning streak is Cleveland’s longest since a 10-game stretch in August 2008. The Indians, coming off a sweep at Seattle, have started out 4-0 on the road for the first time since 1998 (6-0). Their 8-2 start overall is their best since 2002, when they won 12 of their first 13.

Talbot (1-0) came within three outs of his first big league shutout, allowing five hits and two walks while striking out four. He was lifted by manager Manny Acta after Bobby Abreu led off the ninth with a double on Talbot’s 112th pitch.

Vinnie Pestano retired the final three batters in order.

Angels starter Tyler Chatwood gave up four runs, four hits and four walks in five innings in his major league debut.
The 21-year-old right-hander was promoted from Triple-A Salt Lake when Dan Haren’s scheduled start was pushed back a day. Haren had pitched an inning of relief to get the win in the Angels’ 14-inning, 6-5 victory over Toronto on Saturday night.

Chatwood was the organization’s minor league pitcher of the year last season, and has just 62/3 innings of Triple-A experience.

Cabrera, the Indians’ No.2 hitter, drove Chatwood’s eighth pitch of the game over the center-field fence on a 3-1 count and LaPorta added a three-run shot in the second. Chatwood walked the bases loaded in the fifth and went to 3-2 on Shin-Soo Choo before retiring him on an inning-ending double-play grounder to second base.

Angels reliever Scott Downs was activated after opening the season on the 15-day disabled list because of a broken big toe on his left foot and made his Angels debut with a perfect eighth inning. The 35-year-old left-hander signed a three-year, $15 million contract as a free agent in December after spending his first six big league seasons with Toronto.

Notes

• In his only other start against the Angels, Talbot gave up a run over 6 1/3 innings in a 9-2 win at Anaheim on April 27, 2010.
• Cabrera has four homers, one more than he hit last season in 381 at-bats. He missed two months with a broken left forearm.
• The Indians’ Class A Lake County club in the Midwest League got a combined no-hitter Monday night from Trey Haley, Francisco Jimenez and Clayton Elhert against Dayton.
• Mark Langston threw a ceremonial first pitch on the 21st anniversary of his Angels debut, when he pitched seven innings of a combined no-hitter with Mike Witt against Seattle at the Big A.
• Angels C Hank Conger made his third start of the season. He was behind the plate for Chatwood’s only Triple-A start of last season, when Chatwood allowed four runs and nine hits in 52/3 innings.
• Chatwood was trying to become the second-youngest pitcher since 2000 to win in his big league debut. The youngest pitcher to do it was Angels teammate Scott Kazmir, on Aug. 23, 2004, with Tampa Bay.

Tonight

• Who: Cleveland at Los Angeles Angels
• Time: 10:05
• Where: Angel Stadium of Anaheim (Calif.)
• Pitchers: Carmona (0-1, 9.00 ERA) vs. Haren (2-0, 1.15)
• TV/radio: SportsTime Ohio; WEOL 930-AM, WTAM 1100-AM

ELYRIA — A Lorain man was arrested after police say he stole a car, fled police and then refused to comply with officers early this morning.

Jurado

Orlando Jurado, 22, faces charges of theft of a motor vehicle, reckless operation, fleeing a police officer, obstructing official business and resisting arrest.

Police were called to 570 Baldwin Ave. about 4 a.m. for a stolen 1998 red Honda Civic, according to a police report.

An officer spotted the vehicle in the area of Gulf Road and state Route 57 and followed it to the area of Giant Eagle near Midway Mall.

The officer then activated his cruiser’s overhead lights, but the vehicle refused to stop, driving toward the mall erratically, swerving around several islands in the parking lot and striking several handicapped parking signs.

The driver exited the car near Dillards and fled on foot, but officers found him hiding behind a trash compactor.

Jurado refused to comply with officers as they tried to handcuff him and then refused to stand once he was cuffed, the report said.

Jurado was booked at the Elyria police station and then taken to the Lorain County Jail.

The car, which had a flat tire and a bent rim and the steering column ripped out, was towed.

LORAIN — A 13-year-old Lorain girl who claimed to be the victim of an attack by a group of seven or eight other girls has been charged after police determined she was actually the aggressor.

The teen’s mother had reported to police on March 28 that her daughter was attacked by the group as she was walking home from track practice and that she had been having problems with another 13-year-old girl.

According to the police report, the 13-year-old who had claimed to be the victim had cuts and bruises and was missing some of her hair.

A group of men in their late teens and early 20s watched the attack and videotaped it on their cell phones, the report said.

Police determined, however, that the alleged victim had started the fight by threatening to beat up another teen several days earlier.

The pair agreed to fight, and the other girls involved were trying to break it up, police said.

The pair of girls who fought were charged with assault, according to police, and the other girls were not charged.

SEATTLE — Asdrubal Cabrera has never been considered a power hitter. His career high for a season is six home runs.

Barely a week into the 2011 campaign, Cabrera already has three homers and the surging Indians are the surprise leaders of the AL Central.

Cabrera welcomed Erik Bedard back to Safeco Field with a solo shot and the Indians beat the Seattle Mariners 6-4 on Sunday for their seventh straight victory.

Cleveland completed an impressive three-game sweep of the struggling Mariners and is off to a 7-2 start for the first time since beginning the 2002 season 8-1.

More photos below.

“We’re playing good baseball right now,” Indians manager Manny Acta said. “I know it’s early. We continue to get good pitching and play good defense and good things are going to happen.”

.

Cabrera, who had three hits, was only the beginning of Cleveland’s hit parade against Bedard, who was making his first home start for the Mariners since late July 2009. Bedard (0-2) gave up another homer to Jack Hannahan in the fourth, and doubles to Michael Brantley, Lou Marson and Orlando Cabrera. The left-hander lasted just four innings as Seattle dropped its seventh straight.

Asdrubal Cabrera missed a large chunk of last season with a broken forearm. During spring training, the infielder made some adjustments in his swing, no longer choking up early in the count, then shortening his swing when he gets two strikes.

Either way, he is hitting the ball hard. He homered Friday night on a 2-1 pitch before driving a 1-2 delivery from Bedard just over the hand-operated scoreboard in left two batters into Sunday’s game.

“Just try and hit the ball,” Asdrubal Cabrera said. “Swing a little harder.”

The early runs from the Indians’ offense were more than enough for starter Josh Tomlin, who extended his club record of pitching at least five innings in all 14 career starts since he was called up from the minors last July.

Tomlin allowed just a pair of singles into the seventh before giving up a two-run homer to Ryan Langerhans. Tomlin went 6 2-3 innings, giving up three hits and three runs, nearly matching his first start this season against Boston when he went seven innings, giving up three hits and one run.

Tomlin struck out four, but also walked three batters, helping lead to his high pitch count that eventually got him lifted in the seventh.

“My main goal is to go as deep as I can and give us a chance every time I go out there,” Tomlin said. “If that record, I don’t know what it is to be honest with you, if it keeps going then I’m fine with that.”

Seattle pulled within 6-4 after Langerhans and Michael Saunders homered in the seventh, but the trio of Rafael Perez, Tony Sipp and Chris Perez shut down Seattle for the second straight night.

Rafael Perez got Ichiro Suzuki to line out to center to end the inning with Brantley making a good play to keep from trapping the sinking liner. Sipp then pitched a perfect eighth and Chris Perez worked the ninth for his fourth save of the season and 14th straight dating to last August.

Bedard’s first mistake was giving Asdrubal Cabrera a hittable 1-2 pitch that he drove out, but then followed up by allowing a two-out RBI double to Shelley Duncan after Shin-Soo Choo reached on a check-swing dribbler that stopped just inches from going foul.

Bedard gave up consecutive two-out doubles to Marson and Brantley in the second, and Asdrubal Cabrera added an RBI single to cap the inning.

Seattle’s defensive troubles also flared up again in the third when a high throw by Suzuki from the outfield allowed Choo to score on Orlando Cabrera’s double.

Bedard gave up 10 hits and struck out six, but was done by the fifth after throwing 83 pitches.

“It’s been a year and a half since I’ve thrown, so it might take a little while,” he said. “I’m working hard and trying to get back as quick as I can.”

Notes

• Seattle reliever David Pauley was one bright spot for the Mariners. In relief of Bedard, Pauley threw three perfect innings, striking out three. Seattle’s bullpen allowed just one hit in five innings.
• Cleveland is 4-1 against left-handed starters and is batting .333 versus left-handed pitching.
• Saunders has an RBI in his first five games this season, tying a club record.