For the second straight night, the Indians won in walk-off fashion, with Orlando Cabrera’s bases loaded single in the 13th inning lifting Cleveland to a 3-2 victory over the Tigers.

It was the 12th straight home win for the Indians, who got an impressive outing from starting pitcher Alex White, the right-hander allowing two runs on six hits over six innings of his major league debut.

The Indians improved to 18-8, matching the Phillies for the best record in baseball.

CLEVELAND — The Indians finally have a diagnosis on ailing designated hitter Travis Hafner, who was out of the lineup for the third straight game Saturday.

Results from an MRI performed Friday revealed that Hafner has a strained tendon on the bottom of his right foot. He was originally sidelined with what the team called right ankle inflammation, sustaining the injury while sliding into home plate Wednesday.

The Indians still don’t think it is a disabled list situation, but Hafner was in a walking boot prior to the game and will wear it when he isn’t performing baseball activities.

“We’re optimistic that it will involve a short time period down,” said Cleveland’s head trainer Lonnie Soloff.

Hafner (.342, four home runs and 11 RBIs in 21 games) will be in the boot until Monday, when he is scheduled to be examined again.

In the meantime, because Hafner does not play the field, both Soloff and manager Manny Acta said the DH was available to pinch hit.

“He’s available off the bench, so beware, the Pronk can be there any time,” Acta said. “All he has to do is take off his boot.”

In other injury news:

(bullet) Starting pitcher Mitch Talbot (strained right elbow) threw out of the bullpen Saturday for the first time since going on the disabled list. He is expected to throw a second bullpen session with the Indians on the road in Oakland on Tuesday.

(bullet) Talbot’s rotation mate, right-hander Carlos Carrasco (strained right elbow), played catch from 75 feet Saturday and is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Monday. The Indians are hopeful that Carrasco can begin a minor league rehab assignment sometime next week.

Moving day

The Indians officially promoted Saturday’s starting pitcher, right-hander Alex White, optioning reliever Frank Herrmann back to Triple-A Columbus.

The Indians also cleared a spot on their 40-man roster for White, designating Clippers reliever Jess Todd for assignment.

Herrmann, who began the season in Cleveland’s bullpen, did not appear in a game during his latest stint on the big league level.

Told you so

Acta drew fire for leaving a struggling Carlos Santana in the cleanup spot, but he was vindicated a bit when the catcher hit a walk-off grand slam Friday night in a 9-5 win over the Tigers.

“I’m not here to prove anybody wrong. I respect everybody’s opinion,” Acta said. “I don’t know when the real estate market is going to come back, but I do know Carlos is going to hit.”

Santana, who entered Saturday batting .190 with four homers and 16 RBIs in 23 games, said he got the ball from his first career grand slam, giving the fan who retrieved it an autographed baseball and bat.

Friendly fire

Former Indians catcher Victor Martinez is back at Progressive Field, but he is on the disabled list with a strained right groin and will not play in the series for Detroit.

Martinez will begin a minor league rehab assignment Monday and has been keeping tabs on the fast start from Cleveland, where he spent the first eight years of his career.

“To tell you the truth, I’m not really surprised,” Martinez said. “They’ve got a lot of young guys but they got talent. Good things happen when you have talent and put everything together.

“It’s too bad that I’m in the same division, but they’re going to get better and better.”

Minor details

Catcher Luke Carlin, a candidate to win Cleveland’s backup catcher job this spring, went 2-for-5 with a double and three RBIs in Columbus’ 8-5 victory over Gwinnett. Carlin, acquired in a trade with the Pirates last year, entered Saturday batting .341 with two homers and eight RBIs in 15 games. … Class A Lake County shortstop Tyler Cannon went 2-for-4 with an RBI in the Captains’ 5-3 loss to South Bend on Friday. Cannon, a 12th-round draft pick last year, entered Saturday batting .359 with three homers and 13 RBIs in 19 games.

Roundin’ third

The Indians (17-8) entered Saturday tied with the Phillies for the best record in baseball. … The Indians honored longtime drummer John Adams prior to the game. Adams attended his 3,00th game Tuesday. … Today, 1:05, Channel 3/STO/WTAM 1100-AM/WEOL 930-AM. Masterson (5-0, 2.18) vs. Coke (1-4, 4.88).

Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.

CLEVELAND — Check another item off the list in this shocking start to the season for the Indians.

Carlos Santana hit a game-winning grand slam in the ninth inning Friday night off reliever Joaquin Benoit to power Cleveland to a 9-5 victory in the series opener against Detroit.

The Indians have accomplished plenty already en route to their first-place standing in the Central Division, but this was their first walk-off victory of the season.

“Right now, they can’t do anything more to impress me or shock me,” said manager Manny Acta, whose team won its 11th straight home game to improve to an American League-best 17-8. The 17 wins are the most in franchise history over the first month of the season. “Right now, they’re going about their business and having fun.”

Santana hasn’t been having much fun this season, slumping through most of it and the majority of Friday night.

He was 0-for-3 when he came to the plate with one out and the hard-throwing Benoit on the mound, few in the park expecting much from the struggling cleanup hitter.

But after working himself into a favorable hitter’s count (3-1), Santana finally found some relief, belting a grooved fastball well into the seats in right field for his first big league grand slam.

“I am very excited,” said Santana, who could remember only one grand slam during his minor league days. “I am very happy my team won on my first grand slam. It’s just something that happened. It’s baseball.”

“That was a great at-bat,” Acta said of Santana’s trip. “He put himself in a position  to get a pitch that he could drive, and that’s what he did. It was nice to see for him.”

In the majority of their wins, the Indians have grabbed early leads with their pitching staff taking over from there.

This time around Cleveland had to come back after some early scuffles from starting pitcher Jeanmar Gomez and a dominant effort from Tigers starter Max Scherzer left them in a 3-0 hole through 5 1/2 innings.

Gomez bent, allowing three runs on 10 hits over 5 2/3 innings, but he didn’t break, which loomed large at the end of the night.

“He fought his way through it and kept us in the game,” Acta said of Gomez, who allowed two of his runs in the opening inning on a home run from Miguel Cabrera. “The way Scherzer was throwing the ball, you didn’t want to be trailing by too many runs.”

Cleveland entered the night with the highest-scoring offense in the American League but looked as though it had finally met its match in Scherzer, who shut out the Indians on just two hits over the first five innings, while striking out six.

The Indians finally broke free from Scherzer’s hold in the sixth on a two-out, two-run single from Shelley Duncan, who replaced designated hitter Travis Hafner (right ankle inflammation) for the second straight night.

Detroit built its lead back to three-runs in the top of the seventh off reliever Chad Durbin, but Cleveland returned fire in the bottom of the inning.

Matt LaPorta hit a solo homer to left off Scherzer before Grady Sizemore drew a two-out walk and rode home on another long ball — a two-run shot from Asdrubal Cabrera — that tied the game at five.

The Indians had a chance to break the tie in the eighth, but LaPorta struck out to end the inning with two on base before Cleveland went to work on Benoit in the ninth.

Jack Hannahan started the inning off with a single, then advanced to third on a base hit from Sizemore. The Tigers intentionally walked Asdrubal Cabrera to load the bases for Shin-Soo Choo.

Choo struck out to give the Tigers a chance at an inning-ending double play, but Santana spoiled the opportunity with gusto.

Indians relievers Vinnie Pestano and closer Chris Perez kept the game tied by retiring all six batters they faced in the eighth and ninth innings, setting the stage for Santana’s unlikely heroics.

“That’s baseball,” Perez said. “That’s fun. Give our hitters credit. They came back. That’s another sign of a good team.”

And another surprising development in an already shocking beginning for the Indians in 2011.

Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.

CLEVELAND — Right ankle inflammation kept Travis Hafner out of the lineup for the second consecutive game Friday, but the Indians aren’t concerned that the injury is serious.

The Indians were still awaiting results from an MRI performed on the ankle Friday, but manager Manny Acta said prior to the series opener with Detroit that Hafner was available to pinch hit.

“We want to make sure everything is OK,” Acta said. “We want to be on the safe side and give him one more day off.”

Hafner, who is off to a promising start — .342 with four home runs and 11 RBIs in 21 games — sustained the injury while sliding into home plate in the first inning of a 7-2 victory over the Royals on Wednesday. He did not take batting practice Friday.

As he did Thursday, Shelley Duncan replaced Hafner at designated hitter and in the fifth spot in the batting order.

Duncan, who entered Friday hitting .348 (8-for-23) with a homer and five RBIs in nine games — has been a valuable part-time player for the Indians the past two seasons.

“That’s his responsibility,” Acta said. “From Day 1, he has never been offered a fulltime job. You have to understand your role and prepare for it.

“He’s done a nice job for us. He’s a big part of our clubhouse. He’s a high-character guy.”

Duncan and second baseman Orlando Cabrera are part of a mix of veterans on Cleveland’s roster that Acta believes has provided leadership for a youth-laden club.

“It’s important to have high-character guys,” Acta said. “When you have high-character guys around like we have, it makes the job of the manager and the coaches easier. Guys tend to listen to their peers a lot.”

Wait and see

Though he is expected to make at least two starts in place of an injured Carlos Carrasco, Acta would only commit to one for right-hander Alex White, who will make his big league debut tonight.

“He’s going to start (today) and then we’ll go from there,” Acta said. “If I tell you two and he gives up 55 runs, does that mean he gets another one? Hopefully Alex will take advantage of his opportunity.”

The Indians will officially promote White (1-0, 1.90 ERA in four starts) from Triple-A Columbus today. They will have to clear a spot on their 25-man roster, with reliever Frank Herrmann expected to be optioned back to the minors. A spot on the 40-man roster will also have to be cleared for White, who will wear No. 32.

Crowded house

The Indians added two players to Columbus’ roster Friday, activating infielder Jason Donald and assigning infielder Josh Rodriguez to the Clippers.

Donald was Cleveland’s projected starter at third base when training camp opened but was sidelined early by a left hand fracture. He hit .200 (5-for-25) with two runs in eight games of a rehab assignment with Columbus and Double-A Akron.

Rodriguez was re-acquired by the Indians for $25,000 after being selected by Pittsburgh in the Rule V Draft this offseason. Rodriguez had to remain on the big league roster the entire season or the Pirates had to return him or another player to the Indians at half the price he was acquired for.

Rodriguez made Pittsburgh’s opening day roster but was designated for assignment after going 1-for-12 in seven games.

The Indians have a wealth of infielders at the Triple-A level, including top prospects Lonnie Chisenhall, Cord Phelps and Jason Kipnis, as well as Luis Valbuena, who spent parts of last year as the Indians’ starting second baseman.

One of them could be removed from the 40-man roster to clear a spot for White.

Miller time?

Right-hander Adam Miller, once considered the Indians’ top pitching prospect, has cleared another hurdle on his comeback trail.

Miller, whose career has been sidelined by multiple surgeries on his right middle finger, was assigned to advanced Class A Kinston’s roster after spending the last month in Goodyear, Ariz., at extended spring training.

The 31st overall pick in the 2003 draft began his career as a hard-throwing starter that gained fame by topping 100-mph at his first big league training camp, but he will pitch exclusively as a reliever at Kinston.

Miller, 26, hasn’t appeared in a professional game since May of 2008.

Minor details

Columbus beat Gwinett 2-1 Thursday for its eighth straight win, with right-hander Zach McAllister (4-0, 3.38 ERA) getting the decision after pitching seven scoreless innings on six hits and striking out six. Third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall (.270) went 2-for-4 with his second homer of the season. … Akron’s Cory Burns had converted all seven of his save opportunities through Thursday. Burns, an eighth-round draft pick (2009) out of the University of Arizona, entered Friday with a 1.35 ERA and 15 strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings. … Class A Lake County outfielder Carlos Moncrief was recently named Midwest League player of the week. The 14th-round draft pick in 2008, entered Friday leading the ML with 19 runs and ranked third with 12 extra-base hits.

Roundin’ third

Shin-Soo Choo’s batting average was at .250 entering Friday, the right fielder hitting .309 (21-for-68) with three homers and 13 RBIs over his last 18 games. … The Indians entered Friday with a 13-2 record when scoring first. … Tonight, 6:05, STO/WTAM 1100-AM/WEOL 930-AM. White (first career start) vs. Porcello (1-2, 4.76).

Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.