CLEVELAND, Ohio — Chicks aren’t the only ones who dig the long ball. Travis Hafner feels the same.

“If you’re a hitter, you love your home runs and RBI,” said Hafner. “I think everybody likes to hit homers.”

Hafner has homered twice in the last three games entering Thursday night’s season finale against Chicago. Before hitting a two-run homer against the White Sox on Tuesday in the first game of a day-night doubleheader, he drove in two runs with a single against Seattle on Monday.

How does Pronk prefer his hits? Long and gone, thank you.

“I’ll take the homer every day,” said Hafner. “If the RBI are the same, I’ll take the homer.”

This season hasn’t been the kind Hafner wanted on Opening Day. Two trips to the disabled list cost him games and at bats. He went into Thursday’s game hitting .280 (86-for-307) with 14 doubles, 13 homers and 57 RBI. He is hitting .388 (31-for-80) with runners in scoring position.

Hafner’s two-run homer in Wednesday’s 8-4 loss to Chicago gave him 999 hits for his career. The homer was his 188th as an Indian, two behind Rocky Colavito for ninth place in franchise history.

Hafner came off the disabled list Sept. 10 after straining a tendon in his right foot. It had been speculated that he’d need surgery, but that does not appear to be the case now.

“I feel fine,” said Hafner. “I don’t think it’s going to be an issue.”

More importantly, he feels good at the plate.

“I feel great right now. Much like the whole first half,” said Hafner. “I just want to go up there and hit the ball really hard and I feel I’m going to do that.”

The Indians homered in 19 of their last 24 games, totaling 31 homers, before Thursday’s game. They opened Thursday game with consecutive homers by Kosuke Fukudome and Jason Kipnis.

Kudos: Columbus manager Mike Sarbaugh gave credit to the Indians farm system for giving him the players necessary to win his the Clippers second straight Class AAA national championship.

With the Indians taking most of Sarbaugh’s players from the Triple-A roster, players arrived from Class AA Akron to fill the holes.

“Tim Fedroff was having a big year at Akron and up and played well in center field for Ezequiel Carrera,” said Sarbaugh. “When Luis Valbuena was called up, Juan Diaz came up and did a nice at shortstop. Down the stretch Jared Goedert really played well at third base.”

Fedroff hit .343 (12-for-35) as the Clippers won Governor’s Cup in the International League playoffs.    

Tonight’s lineup:

White Sox (76-79): LF Juan Pierre (L), SS Alexei Ramirez (R), C A.J. Pierzynski (L), CF Alex Rios (R), DH Adam Dunn (L), 1B Dayan Viciedo (R), RF Alejandro De Aza (L),
3B Brent Morel (R), 2B Gordon Beckham (R), RHP Phil Humber (9-8, 3.59).

Indians (76-78): RF Kosuke Fukudome (L), 2B Jason Kipnis (L), SS Asdrubal Cabrera (S), DH Travis Hafner (L), C Carlos Santana (S), CF Grady Sizemore (L), 1B Matt LaPorta (R), 3B Jack Hannahan (R), LF Ezequiel Carrera (L), Jeanmar Gomez (4-2, 3.78).

Lineup notes: Asdrubal Cabrera is back in the lineup after missing the second game of Tuesday’s day-night doubleheader and Wednesday’s game with a strained back muscle.

Umpires: H Bill Welke, 1B Jeff Nelson, 2B Tim Tschida, 3B Marty Foster.

Him vs. me: Beckham and De Aza are 1-for-2 against Gomez. Santana is 1-for-1 with a double against Humber.

Lefty-righty: Lefties are hitting .330 (32-for-97) with one homer and righties .276 (27-for-98) with three homers against Gomez. The White Sox have four lefties in the lineup.

Lefties are hitting .271 (93-for-343) with six homers and righties are hitting .207 (48-for-232) with two homers against Humber. The Indians have eight lefties, including two switch-hitters, in the lineup. 

Next: The Indians open a four-game series against the Twins on Friday with Justin Masterson (12-10) facing former Indian right-hander Carl Pavano (8-13, 4.40). STO and WTAM will carry the game.

Where: Progressive Field.

When: Monday.

TV/radio: SportsTime Ohio; WTAM AM/1100.

Pitching matchups: LHP Charlie Furbush (3-9, 4.86) vs. LHP David Huff (2-5, 3.40) at 4:05 p.m.

Season series: Indians lead Seattle, 5-3. Indians lead, 201-157, overall.

Indians update: Following a three-game sweep by the Tigers, the Indians returned home to lose three out of four to the last-place Mariners to send them reeling out of contention and for all. Coming off a 10-game trip in which they went 5-5.

Mariners update: Furbush, acquired from Detroit in the Doug Fister deal, is making his second appearance and first start against the Indians this season. He’s lost five straight starts. In Seattle’s last visit to Cleveland, third baseman Kyle Seager hit .714 (10-for-14).

Injuries: Indians –RHP Josh Tomlin (right elbow), OF Michael Brantley (right hand), RHP Carlos Carrasco (right elbow) are on the disabled list. 3B Jack Hannahan (left calf) is day to day. Shin-Soo Choo (left oblique) is out for the season. Mariners — RHP David Aardsma (right elbow), RHP Dan Cortes (right hand) and C Adam Moore (right knee) are on the disabled list. 1B Justin Smoak (right groin) is day to day.

Next: Chicago visits for a four-game, three-day series starting with Tuesday’s day-night doubleheader.

ARLINGTON, Texas — The stats are going the wrong way for All-Star shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera.

“Fatigue is showing,” said Indians manager Manny Acta.

Cabrera didn’t start Thursday night against the Rangers. He didn’t play Sunday against the White Sox coupled with Monday’s off day, but Cabrera’s bat has shown no sign of warming. He’s hitting .122 (5-for-41) in September.

Since the All-Star break, Cabrera’s number have declined steeply. He was hitting .294 (105-for-358) with 14 homers and 51 RBI when he started for the American League in the All-Star Game at Chase Field in Phoenix.

In the second half, Cabrera is hitting .224 (47-for-210) with eight homers and 31 RBI.

Here’s Cabrera’s month-by-month breakdown: .262 (28-for-107) in April, .330 (39-for-106) in May, .297 (33-for-111) in June, .266 (25-for-94) in July, .239 (26-for-109) in August and .122 (5-for-41) in September.

Cabrera has played with bruised knees and a sore wrist. Many times, he has been the only regular in the lineup because of the Indians’ numerous injuries. But fatigue seems to have run him down and is inflicting a harsh lesson.

“I’ve seen a little of fatigue from Asdrubal since the All-Star break,” said Acta. “That’s part of the learning process here. Guys have to learn how to prepare themselves to play 200 games — not 162, 200 games.

“They have to learn how to get their body used to it by improving their eating habits. By resting properly and hydrating themselves properly. It’s a process that guys at 25 probably still haven’t mastered.”

Acta didn’t reach the number 200 by adding 30 spring training games, 162 regular season games and the 11 postseason victories needed to win a World Series. It’s his own calculation.

“I’m talking 200 games,” said Acta. “You have to prepare yourself for more games than the season brings so your body can handle whatever the season brings to you with ease. . . . That’s a fact. That’s what I believe.”

Cabrera is hitting .268 (152-for-568) with 31 doubles, three triples, 22 homers and 82 RBI. The homers and RBI are career highs.

He was back . . . for a bit: Shin-Soo Choo was activated Thursday. He started in right field and batted third. However, after grounding out to first in the first inning, he was replaced in right field by Ezequiel Carrera.

Choo returned from his second trip to the disabled list this year. His latest injury was a strained left oblique.

Asked why he just didn’t finish the season on the disabled list and take the off-season to get completely healed, Choo said: “I want to finish the season on the field, not with an injury. That’s my goal.”

Choo said he feels no pain when he swings or throws from the oblique muscle.

“But I know something is there,” he said.

Did you see that? Shelley Duncan still was shaking his head Thursday after his three consecutive carbon-copy, highlight-reel catches against the left-field wall on Wednesday night against Elvis Andrus, Josh Hamilton and Michael Young.

“I’ve never had three balls hit to me like that . . . all the same one,” said Duncan. “It was just funny.”

Duncan’s catches against Andrus and Hamilton were the last two outs in a 1-2-3 first inning. His catch against Young was the first out in the second. They were all hit to almost the exact same spot in front of the left-field scoreboard.

“I jumped for all three,” said Duncan. “I was about six inches above the ground. That’s about as high as I can go.”

Duncan’s eyes were huge after he caught Young’s ball. He was talking to himself as well.

“[Center fielder] Trevor Crowe was laughing at me, and I was saying, ‘Are you kidding me?’ ” said Duncan. “All I was thinking was just get the spotlight off me.”

Hamilton hit a grand slam in the fourth over the left-field wall, but Duncan still jumped for the ball.

“I’m not sure why I did it,” he said with a laugh. “It was fun.”

Testing, testing: Right-hander Josh Tomlin threw a bullpen session Thursday to test his sore right elbow. He will throw another one this weekend at Target Field in Minneapolis and a simulated game when the Indians return home.

If he passes those tests, Acta said Tomlin could be “in the mix” to start one of the games in a day-night doubleheader against the Twins on Sept. 24. It’s doubtful Tomlin would be able to pitch more than three or four innings.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: phoynes@plaind.com, 216-999-5158

On Twitter: @hoynsie

Cleveland Indians today announced the club has activated OF Shin-Soo Choo from the 15-day Disabled List.

Choo is hitting .260 (81-312) with 11 doubles, 3 triples, 8 home runs and 36 RBI in 84 games around two stints on the DL this season.

He was most recently on the DL from August 28-September 14 with a strained left oblique.  Over his last 21 games played since June 15th he is hitting .351 (26-74) with 3HR & 13RBI.

He was also on the DL from June 25-August 11 with a broken left thumb.

He is in the lineup tonight at Texas batting third in right field. The Indians Major League roster now consists of 33 players with 3 players on the Disabled List.

WKYC-TV

ARLINGTON, Tex. — The Indians promoted right-hander Zach Putnam on Tuesday
from Class AAA Columbus to help in the bullpen.

As the Indians near elimination in the AL Central, they’re looking for ways to ease the workload on workhorse relievers Tony Sipp, Rafael Perez, Joe Smith, Vinnie Pestano and closer Chris Perez.

The Indians picked Putnam in the fifth round of the 2008 draft out of the University of Michigan. He’s spent this year at Columbus, going 6-3 with nine saves and a 3.65 ERA. He’s allowed 28 earned runs in 69 innings. In 44 games, he walked 23 and struck out 68.

Putnam was in big league camp with the Indians this spring.

Outfielder Shin-Soo Choo (left oblique)  and right-hander Josh Tomlin (right elbow) will work out with the team starting today, but are not expected to be activated today. Choo was placed on the disabled list Sept. 1 with the move retroactive to Sept. 28. Tomlin was placed on the disabled list on Aug. 26 with the move retroactive to Aug. 25.

The Indians open a three-game series tonight against AL West-leading Texas at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Their magic number to elimination is six, any combination of Detroit victories and Indians losses that equal six will take them out of the race.

Right-hander Jason Rice, claimed on waivers from Oakland, was designated for assignment to make room for Putnam on the 40-man roster.

 

Where: Rangers Ballpark at Arlington.

When: Tuesday through Thursday.

TV/radio: SportsTime Ohio for all three games, ESPN Wednesday; WTAM AM/1100.

Pitching matchups: Justin Masterson (11-9, 3.01) vs. LHP Matt Harrison (11-9, 3.50) Tuesday at 8:05 p.m.; LHP David Huff (2-4, 3.05) vs. LHP Derek Holland (13-5, 4.12) Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. and RHP Fausto Carmona (6-15, 5.18) vs. RHP Alexi Ogando (12-8, 3.71) Thursday at 8:05 p.m.

Season series: The Indians are 1-6 against Texas. Texas leads, 231-188, overall.

Indians update: Just split a four-game series with Chicago, but have lost seven of their last 11. They’re hitting .202 (47-for-233) as a team against the Rangers and have been outscored, 42-23. Frank Herrmann is the only Tribe pitcher to beat the Rangers this year.

Rangers update: They’ve won six of their last 10, but can’t shake the second-place Angels in the AL West. Rangers are hitting .294 (75-for-255) against the Indians and Elvis Andrus at .414 (12-for-29) with nine RBI is one of the reasons. Holland and Ogando are each 1-0 against the Tribe this year.

Injuries: Indians – RHP Josh Tomlin (right elbow), OF Michael Brantley (right hand), RHP Carlos Carrasco (right elbow), OF Trevor Crowe (right shoulder) and OF Shin-Soo Choo (left side) are on the disabled list. 3B Jack Hannahan (left calf) is day to day. Rangers: OF Julio Borbon (left ankle), OF Nelson Cruz (left hamstring), RHP Darren O’Day (right shoulder), RHP Mason Tobin (right elbow), RHP Brandon Wells (right shoulder) are on the disabled list. Cruz could be activated Tuesday.

Next: Indians start 10-game trip Thursday with four-game series against White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field.