CLEVELAND -- They stormed the field and mobbed the hero of the night, as the script dictates in such a dramatic and unpredictable comeback.

But back in the clubhouse afterward, the music played no louder, the smiles were no wider and the quotes were no more colorful.

Yes, to hear them tell it, a stunning 12-11 victory over the Tigers on a muggy Friday night at Jacobs Field was really just business as usual to the Indians.

Forget for a moment that their 19-4 record at home is the best in the Majors and the best in club history. Forget that they've now beaten the rival Tigers five times in the span of a week. Forget that their 15-4 record in the American League Central is the best mark within a division in the big leagues.

This Indians team doesn't bask in its own glow.

"These guys take it one day at a time," manager Eric Wedge said. "That's a cliché, but that's the way these guys go about it. What I saw happen [in this game] was the way these guys play, with regard to fighting and not quitting."

They didn't quit when they were down, 5-1, in the sixth.

They didn't quit when they were down, 9-5, in the eighth

So it stood to reason that they wouldn't quit when they were down, 11-7, in the ninth.

"Everyone in here has said all along this team is never too far behind to come back," David Dellucci said. "And we proved that tonight."

It was Dellucci whose two-out line-drive single up the middle off Todd Jones in the bottom of the ninth brought home the winning run and sent a sellout crowd of 41,365 fans into a frenzied state.

But that was really just one of a multitude of big hits in a ballgame that featured an affluence of offense.

The offense came early against Tribe starter Fausto Carmona, who, like C.C. Sabathia before him, stumbled a bit when it came to facing the same team in consecutive starts. Carmona was beat up for five runs in six innings, none bigger than the two Craig Monroe put on the board by golfing Carmona's sinker out of the yard for a homer in the sixth.

"Monroe did a great job digging out that sinker," Wedge said.

Now, it was the Indians' task to dig out of the 5-1 deficit Carmona had left behind. It seemed a tall order, given that the only costly mistake left-hander Mike Maroth had made through five innings was allowing a solo homer to Victor Martinez, who has now notched an RBI in eight straight ballgames.

"It was a playoff atmosphere on June 1. This one really felt good, because it was in front of our home crowd. To do it in front of your home fans is very incredible."
-- David Dellucci

But with two outs and a man on in the sixth, the Tribe erupted. Jhonny Peralta belted his team-high 11th homer over the left-center-field wall. And after Ryan Garko singled, Jason Michaels got the green light on a 3-0 count and swatted a fastball into the left-field bleachers to tie it up at 5.

The Tigers, though, had no respect for the momentum that supposedly should come with such a big inning, wasting no time before ripping into Tom Mastny in their next at-bat.

Mastny has pitched himself into a prominent role in the Tribe's bullpen in recent weeks, but it wasn't a performance like this one that earned him that status. He quickly let two runners aboard, setting up an RBI single from Placido Polanco, a walk to Gary Sheffield that loaded the bases and a run-scoring single by Magglio Ordonez.

Just as he had in Boston two nights earlier, Wedge went to Aaron Fultz in an effort to get out of a bases-loaded jam.

"[Mastny] was a little bit off," Wedge said, "and we had to work with all our guys."

This time, turning to Fultz didn't work. The left-hander walked the first batter he faced, Sean Casey, then gave up a sac fly to Craig Monroe, and the Tigers took a 9-5 advantage.

Still, the Indians remained resolute.

"We didn't ever think we were out of it," Garko said, "even though [the Tigers] kept pouring it on offensively."

The Indians didn't pour it on late. Rather, they chipped away, with Garko's eighth-inning single off Wilfredo Ledezma putting runners on the corners with two out.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland opted to bring in his closer, and the Indians pounced. Pinch-hitter Trot Nixon lofted a soft line drive to right to bring in one run, and Josh Barfield lined a single to center that ended up bringing in another, thanks in large part to Curtis Granderson's errant throw home.

Again, the Indians had kept themselves in striking distance. But again, they would be let down by the 'pen.

In the ninth, it was struggling reliever Fernando Cabrera's turn to let the Tigers run rampant. The bases were loaded with two outs when he walked Michael Rabelo to make it 10-7. Roberto Hernandez couldn't ebb the flow, as he served up an RBI single to Omar Infante to give the Tigers their third four-run lead of the night.

The Tribe shrugged it off.

"That's something we really learned from the last two years," Martinez said. "You give up runs, and there's nothing you can do about it. You've got to keep battling and keep fighting."

In the ninth, Casey Blake's leadoff single and Travis Hafner's walk kept the fight alive. And when Martinez punched a 2-1 fastball into the bleachers to make it 11-10, a reeling Jones slammed the rosin bag into the dirt and looked ready for a standing eight count.

From that point, the Indians made it look easy. Peralta doubled, Nixon was intentionally walked, and Dellucci's clutch hit was the final knock for a club that has a knack for the dramatic.

"It was awesome," Dellucci said. "It was a playoff atmosphere on June 1. This one really felt good, because it was in front of our home crowd. To do it in front of your home fans is very incredible. Very incredible."

OK, so the night was not without some superlatives. But the Indians appeared ready to report to work the next day, viewing this ballgame as a link in the chain.