Indians fans had to think they were seeing things when they looked out at the pitchers mound in the ninth inning of their Thursday night disaster at home against the Yankees.

The team had already taken it on the chin, trailing 11-1 at that point, and had already lost starting pitcher Mitch Talbot to a mid-back strain that had put plenty of strain all night on a bullpen that for the second straight game had to hold down the fort.

So maybe it was not such a shock when standing on the mound to throw the ninth inning was none other than usual third basemen Andy Marte. Yes, a position player that had never thrown a pitch in his pro career was going to try and shut down a Yankees lineup that had already put up 11 runs on 12 hits.

Piece of cake.

In a rather amazing turn of events for a season that has had quite a few amazing moments, Marte was able to get the Yankees 1-2-3, throwing a bunch of fastballs at one point hitting 88 miles per hour on the radar gun.

“That’s something that I don’t like doing,” Acta said. “I try to stay away as much as I can from that, I did it because I had to. At times I feel that it looks like a mockery of the game and I don’t like it.”

Marte was the sixth Indians pitcher of the night, as a nightmare of a seventh inning that saw the Yankees put up seven runs turned a competitive 2-1 game into a laguher as the Yankees won three of four over the Indians.

“I’m glad it didn’t get any uglier, because the people that pay their money they don’t deserve to watch a position player pitch,” Acta said. “I really try to stay away from that kind of stuff, some people may find it funny, but it’s not funny to me.”

The real reason Marte was forced to take to the mound was due to the fact that Wednesday night Fausto Carmona only lasted just 2.2 innings, and Thursdays starter Mitch Talbot left after two innings with a mid-back strain. The bullpen was simply gased, and someone, in this case Marte, had to come in and help out. He did what he was asked to do.

“We had no choice given that game yesterday and guys that were left in the pen, so we talked to Marte, and say ‘hey, throw the ball over the plate,’ and kind of a pretty good example of what you can do if you throw strikes,” Acta said.

While it may not have been funny to Acta, there was no way Marte and his teammates did not get a kick of our seeing the teams third basemen try to quickly learn how to pitch. Acta asked Marte in the eighth to go out there, and it was panic time quickly as Marte needed to learn how to throw. Fast.

“He asked if I had pitched before and I said ‘no way,’ and I looked for (Fausto) Carmona to teach me a pitch,” Marte said.

Throwing almost all fastballs, Marte got leadoff hitter of the inning Robinson Cano to groundout, and then in a shocker, he got Nick Swisher to strike out on three pitches.

“I just wanted to try and throw strikes and see what happens,” Marte said.

The final out of the inning saw Marcus Thames line out to Jayson Nix at third, and you could not help but see how relieved and happy Marte was to walk off the mound without allowing any major damage or making any embarrassing mistakes.

“Everybody was laughing, I was too, I was happy,” Marte said.

Marte became the 21st position player to pitch for the Indians, the last being former catcher Tim Laker in a game against Kansas City in April of 2004. For Marte, after going 1-2-3 against the Yankees, he may want to consider a change in careers. Then again, maybe not.

Recently recalled Luis Valbuena will be the utility Infielder for the time being. When Acta was asked about the organization’s plan at third base he said that there wasn’t a “power-point” type plan for it, and they are going to take it day by day.

When asked about AAA prospect Jared Goedert he said that he will probably be a September call up so they can take a better look at him. He also said that they don’t want to call him up too soon and interfere with his development. The Indians aren’t really worried about having a guy set in stone at third for next year.

Acta said, “I’d love to have Brooks Robinson there for the next ten years, but that is not the case.” They really want to take a good look at all the options the club has in house before exploring possibly bringing in a free-agent next year.

About 30 minutes before the scheduled start of the Indians-New York Yankees game, word came down the pike about a deal the Tribe had made with the Detroit Tigers, sending third basemen Jhonny Peralta to Detroit for a Class A pitcher.

The move is the end of the road for Peralta in Cleveland, a player that had been in the Indians organization since the age of 17.

“It was emotional for all of us,” Indians manager Manny Acta said of telling Peralta. “A lot of people only see the guy in uniform, but Jhonny is a fantastic human being, he lives in this community, he married a wonderful girl from this area, this is the only place that he has been.”

Players in the locker room that have been here and have made it through trades before are becoming accustomed to seeing the team make moves this time of the year.

Two years ago the team shipped Cy Young award winner C.C. Sabathia to the Milwaukee Brewers for current first basemen Matt LaPorta.

Last season it was another Cy Young award winner, Cliff Lee, who was shipped to Philadelphia Phillies, and then later on it was catcher Victor Martinez traded to the Boston Red Sox.

For current DH Travis Hafner, seeing friends leave the locker room is becoming a sight he is getting use to every July.

“Jhonny was a great teammate,” Hafner said. “He was a guy who played everyday, played hard, and was a really talented player. Everyone in the clubhouse is going to miss him, and the organization is going to miss him as well.”

Peralta was not going to be around after 2010, as general manager Mark Shaprio told the media Wednesday night the team was not going to pick up the team option on the player.

Nevertheless, losing a player that had been with the Major League club since 2003 is always tough, even if in the end the move is mostly applauded by fans.

“It’s always tough to see, unfortunately it’s been that way the last couple years,” Hafner said. “It is a business and that is part of it, but it still doesn’t make it any easier.”

Now the players that remain have to sit back and wait to see if anyone is next. Pitcher Jake Westbook has been talked about as possibly being next, and Austin Kearns is another player that could be moved as well.

Right now, Hafner says he and the team cannot worry about if there are going to be anymore moves, as they have to worry about the task at hand.

“Guys are just focused on their jobs, you can’t be worried about the outside,” Hafner said.

The Tigers lost former All-Star third baseman Brandon Inge until possibly late August to a broken bone in his left hand. Peralta batted .246 with 23 doubles, seven homers and 43 RBIs for the Tribe this year. The Tribe get in return a 6’-4” left-hander with a career minor league record of 10-6 with a 2.10 ERA and one save in 29 games. 22 of those games were starts. Soto was a 21st round pick of the Tigers in the 2009 June draft.

The Carolina, Puerto Rico native was the Gulf Coast League Pitcher of the Year in 2009 leading the league in ERA (1.18) going 4-0 in 13 games/ 6 starts with 45.2 innings pitched, giving up only 33 hits and 6 earned runs. The 19 year old has spent the entire season to date with Class A West Michigan, going 6-6 with a 2.61 ERA in 16 starts. He hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in any start this season.

His best start of the season came at the cost of the Tribe’s Class A affiliate Lake County Captains when he pitched a complete game shutout on June 16. That was his second complete game shutout this year. Soto was the Midwest League pitcher of the week, the week of June 21, 2010. To take Peralta’s roster spot on the Indians, infielder Luis Valbuena was recalled from AAA Columbus Clippers and will wear the number 1.

Tribe general manager Mark Shapiro just discussed the trade of Peralta to the Tigers during the game with New York. He said that talks between the Tribe and the Tigers really only heated up a couple of days ago. When it comes to the money involved, he said that the Indians are responsible for the pro-rated remainder of Peralta’s contract.

They are not responsible for the option for next year which was not exercised. This means Peralta will be a free-agent at the end of this season. Shapiro said that this gives the club a chance to look to the short term future at third base with Jayson Nix, Andy Marte, and Valbuena. He also said that for the long term, they have Jared Goedert at AAA Columbus and Lonnie Chisenhall at AA Akron. When asked about any other trades in the works, he declined to comment.