CLEVELAND: The quality of baseball at times left something to be desired Monday night, but it was obvious the combatants meant business.

That's the way it is when the season has reached its final two weeks, and the antagonists are trying their best to make it last another month.

And so the Indians and Detroit Tigers carried the fight into the 11th inning before Casey Blake blasted the Tribe to a 6-5 win at Jacobs Field.

With one out and Zach Miner on the mound, Blake reached out and guided a hanging curveball into the left-field bleachers for the game-winner.

''At times, Casey has been criticized for not hitting as well as he should with runners in scoring position,'' Tribe manager Eric Wedge said. ''But as I said the other night, timing is everything. It's when you do it, and how you do it, and what it does for the ballclub.''

It's beginning to look like Blake has been practicing walk-off homers. Friday night against the Kansas Royals, Blake whacked the first pitch of the ninth inning over the fence in left to give the Indians a 5-4 win.

''I wish I could tell you something,'' Blake said. ''But it's pretty lucky. It's a product of having a good approach and being relaxed in that situation.''

Blake's 17th homer of the year restored the Tribe's 51/2-game lead over Detroit and reduced the magic number for clinching the Central Division championship to seven. It also pushed the Yankees 31/2 games ahead of the Tigers in the wild-card race.

As important as Blake's homer was, it was Rafael Betancourt who kept the Tigers in check for the final two innings, allowing one hit and striking out four.

Jhonny Peralta saw both sides of the mountain: the rainy, dreary side after committing a key error, and the warm, sunny side after hitting two home runs, keeping the game alive for the Tribe.

''Jhonny Peralta was the biggest key to our victory tonight,'' Blake said. ''Those were two great home runs.''

Added Wedge, ''Jhonny is the reason we were able to play extra innings.''

By the eighth, all seemed lost for the Tribe. The Tigers led 5-2. Kenny Rogers had done his usual number on the Tribe's baffled batters, holding them to five hits in seven innings, and now Joel Zumaya was summoned to stun the Indians with 98-mph fastballs.

Instead, Zumaya stumbled through the inning that started with a walk to Grady Sizemore and continued with a single by Asdrubal Cabrera. Both runners moved up on Travis Hafner's ground out to the right side, and Victor Martinez turned one of those 98-mph fastballs into an RBI groundout.

All of this to set the stage for Peralta, who hammered a 1-and-0 pitch the opposite way, the ball landing in the right-field seats for a two-run homer, tying the score.

''Zumaya throws pretty hard,'' Peralta said, ''but he throws a straight fastball.''

Peralta said he saw the scoreboard radar gun had clocked the home run pitch at 98.

Zumaya hasn't faced the Tribe much this season, most of which he missed with an injury. But in three appearances, he has given up six runs and six hits in 21/3 innings.

It's been a while since the Tribe dipped into its bag of bad baseball tricks, but Monday night, almost the entire inventory was on display in the fourth inning, when Detroit scored three times to take 5-1 advantage.

That would be two errors, a botched attempt to field a bunt and a couple of bad pitches by Paul Byrd.

Magglio Ordonez led off with a single and immediately advanced to third on Carlos Guillen's double. The first out of the inning should have been made by Ivan Rodriguez, who slapped a routine bouncer to short. But Peralta muffed the ball for an error.

Ordonez would have scored anyway, but Byrd had to deal with an additional runner, as Rodriguez was safe at first. Timo Perez followed with a single to right. This time, Jason Michaels allowed the ball to dribble off his glove for the second error.

Michaels probably wouldn't have been able to stop Guillen from scoring, but his misplay enabled Rodriguez to move to third, from where he scored on Ramon Santiago's bunt single.

''At this time of year, you throw everything out the window except wins and losses,'' Wedge said. ''That doesn't mean I was happy about it (the fourth inning).

''More important, these guys weren't happy about it. They picked themselves off the ground and kept going. That's what you have to do. You can't cry about it.''

Altogether, Byrd worked 71/3 innings and was charged with five runs (four earned), 10 hits and one walk.

''I can't say enough about taking home a win in this game,'' Byrd said. ''And it was a game we probably shouldn't have won. I know I'll sleep a lot better tonight because of Casey Blake and Jhonny Peralta.''