Indians pile up on the Angels

He has been Ervin the Terrible, and more recently, Ervin the Terrific.

Ervin Santana fit neither extreme Saturday night at Angel Stadium, pitching well enough to win but falling short during the Angels’ 6-1 loss to Cleveland.

The subdued applause accompanying the right-hander on his slow walk back to the dugout in the top of the sixth inning was a rarity for a pitcher who has been showered with boos -- and occasionally cheers -- during a bumpy season.

There was more applause in the early going Saturday. Santana stretched his scoreless streak to 10 innings by shutting down the Indians for the first four frames, and he appeared to shake off an error that led to an unearned run in the fifth before the Indians delivered the knockout blow with two more runs in the sixth.

That was more than enough offense for Cleveland starter C.C. Sabathia, who notched his fourth complete game and tied Chien-Ming Wang and Josh Beckett atop the major leagues with his 17th victory.

Sabathia (17-7) mostly silenced an Angels lineup missing right fielder Vladimir Guerrero for a third consecutive game because of an inflamed right triceps. The Angels grounded into four double plays, including one with two on and nobody out in the eighth, before Juan Rivera broke up Sabathia’s shutout bid later in the inning with a run-scoring single to center, his first hit of the season.

“He was just locating everything and getting ahead of guys, throwing all his pitches for strikes,” Angels catcher Jeff Mathis said of Sabathia, who didn’t even flinch when he absorbed a pair of body blows on line drives off his left thigh and right shoulder.

Designated hitter Garret Anderson failed in his bid to extend his franchise-record streak of 12 consecutive games with a run batted in, going hitless in four at-bats.

The Angels missed an opportunity to match the largest September lead in club history, their advantage over Seattle in the American League West holding at nine games for a second consecutive day. Their magic number to clinch the division title dropped to 13 with 20 games to play after Seattle lost to Detroit.

Santana (6-13) was one out away from making it to the seventh inning for a second consecutive start when things unraveled a bit in the sixth. Jhonny Peralta and Kenny Lofton hit back-to-back two-out, run-scoring singles -- on pitches that Santana said were down in the strike zone where he wanted them -- to transform the Indians’ one-run edge into a three-run cushion.

And so Santana was done, having given up six hits and three runs -- two earned -- in 5 2/3 innings, his third solid start in five outings since returning from his month-long demotion to the minor leagues.

Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said he would reassess his rotation after the weekend. He could stick with Santana or turn to Bartolo Colon, who has sufficiently recovered from the elbow irritation that has sidelined him since late July.

Santana said he was pleased with his second consecutive strong performance, in which he struck out five and walked only one.

“Absolutely great, thank God,” Santana said through an interpreter when asked to assess his outing. “I feel very good about it. I felt like I was patient and focused and taking my time to make the right pitch.”

Mathis said Santana has made tremendous strides in his recent outings, noting “a lot more confidence out of him and just letting the ball go, just throwing that slider where it needs to be. I’m definitely seeing progress.”

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ben.bolch@latimes.com