Interleague to put Hafner on bench

Travis Hafner has been one of Cleveland's top hitters the past week, having hit .364 with four home runs during his last seven games.

The Indians, however, are scheduled to travel to Pittsburgh and Cincinnati starting Friday, which means there will be no designated hitter.

Hafner, having not played first base since 2007 nor taken significant infield practice this season, will likely not be in the lineup. Considering he is coming off an injury, there is no sense to try to play him at first base anyway, despite how well he is hitting.

But Hafner will become a prolific pinch hitter. He would only get one at-bat per game, however, which could cause some strain on the bench later in the game since there would have to be a defensive replacement the half inning after Hafner's plate appearance.

The bats awaken

The Cleveland Indian bats awakened tonight in a 11-0 win against the Red Sox, even though they didn't really need to.

Justin Masterson pitched a masterful nine-inning, two-hit shut out, stifling his old teammates' bats. He allowed two walks while striking out six and inducing 17 ground ball outs.

It was the second straight start for Masterson during which the offense has produced 10 runs. He pitched 5.2 innings against Chicago on June 4 in a 10-1 victory, which snapped his 17-start losing streak.

He is 2-5 on the season.

Cleveland led 3-0 going into the bottom of the eighth, when they poured on eight more runs in an awesome display, highlighted by Travis Hafner's first grand slam since May 7, 2007.

Tomorrow, Mitch Talbot will face Jon Lester as the Indians attempt to salvage a series split at 7:05 p.m.

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