Indians’ Borowski still gets close calls

BOSTON -- Joe Borowski led the American League with 45 saves, but the veteran right-hander has been dogged by the same question for weeks: Why is he still closing games for the Cleveland Indians?

Setup man Rafael Betancourt clearly has better stuff -- the right-hander went 5-1 with a 1.47 earned-run average in 68 games, striking out 80 and walking nine in 79 1/3 innings and limiting opponents to a .183 average and four home runs.

So does left-hander Rafael Perez, who went 1-2 with a 1.78 ERA in 44 games, striking out 62 and walking 15 in 60 2/3 innings and holding opponents to a .219 average and five homers.

Borowski? He went 4-5 with a whopping 5.07 ERA, struck out 58 and walked 17 in 65 2/3 innings, and opponents batted .289 with nine homers off him.

He converted only 13 of 19 one-run saves and 15 of 17 two-run saves, suggesting he doesn’t thrive with little margin for error. Give him a three-run lead and he’s money -- Borowski converted all 17 of those chances.

Still, Manager Eric Wedge keeps giving Borowski the ball in the ninth inning despite cries from even Indians fans to make a change. Borowski remains almost defiant in the face of his critics.

“I don’t care what anybody else thinks about me,” he said Thursday on the eve of the American League Championship Series against the Red Sox. “The only people I worry about [are] my team and my coaching staff. As long as I have their respect, I’m fine.”

Never was that needed more than Monday night in Yankee Stadium, when Cleveland had a 6-3 lead in Game 4 of the division series. Betancourt breezed through the eighth, and Wedge phoned the bullpen ordering Borowski to warm up.

Borowski had entered an April 20 game in Yankee Stadium with a 6-2 lead, got two outs and gave up a homer to Josh Phelps. The Yankees pieced together two more runs on a walk and three singles, and Alex Rodriguez hit a game-winning, three-run homer.

Borowski looked a little shaky again Monday night, giving up a solo home run to Bobby Abreu, but he nailed down the final outs for a 6-4, series-clinching victory.

“It was a little extra special for me because of that atrocity I went through in April,” Borowski said. “I’m glad Wedge still believed in me to get the job done. When that phone rang after the eighth, it gave me all the confidence in the world.”

There aren’t many players who look forward to facing Cleveland ace C.C. Sabathia, a 6-foot-7, 290-pound left-hander with a blazing fastball and a long stride that makes it seem “like he’s right on top of you, like Randy Johnson,” Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell said.

Bobby Kielty’s response? Bring it on. The switch-hitting reserve has a .310 career average against Sabathia, with nine hits, including two home runs and four doubles, in 29 at-bats, a track record that will earn him the start in right field over J.D. Drew in Game 1 tonight.

“Obviously, he can be tough, especially when he’s throwing in the high 90s, but I see the ball well out of his hand, and because I’ve had some success, there’s a comfort factor there,” Kielty said. “It’s always a battle, though. He throws hard.”

Kielty, who signed with the Red Sox in early August after being released by Oakland, didn’t face Sabathia this season but hit .308 in 26 at-bats against left-handers for the Red Sox.

“He has the ability to give you a professional at-bat with the chance that he’ll run one out of the ballpark,” Red Sox Manager Terry Francona said.

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com