CLEVELAND — It wasn’t the blockbuster move most fans were hoping for, but the Indians did make a trade Thursday, acquiring one-time big-name outfielder Kosuke Fukudome from the Cubs for minor leaguers Abner Abreu and Carlton Smith.

In need of offensive assistance, the Indians think they got that and more from Fukudome, a three-year veteran, who hit .273 with three home runs and 13 RBIs in 87 games for Chicago this season.

“Generally speaking, we feel we are a better team today than we were yesterday,” said Cleveland general manager Chris Antonetti of the addition of Fukudome, a native of Osaki, Japan, who ranked 14th in the National League through Wednesday with a .374 on-base percentage. “We feel he can help us both offensively and defensively. Ultimately, our goal is improve our run production and run prevention. I think Kosuke can help us in both areas.”

With Shin-Shoo Choo on the disabled list with a broken left thumb, Fukudome is expected to play right field on a regular basis, a spot previously occupied by Austin Kearns and Travis Buck. Buck was designated for assignment Thursday to clear room for Fukudome on the big league and 40-man roster. Fukudome was expected to arrive in Cleveland late Thursday, starting in right tonight for the series opener with Kansas City.

Fukudome has played mostly right field this year for the Cubs but did play center field in over 100 games in 2009. Either he or left fielder Michael Brantley will play center should Grady Sizemore fail to make it back from another knee injury.

“If we are still in contention when Grady and Choo come back, we’ll examine that,” Antonetti said.

Fukudome, 34, was a star in Japan before coming to the states in 2008 as a highly-touted player and signing a four-year contract with the Cubs worth $48 million. It hasn’t panned out for Fukudome, who entered the season a career .262 hitter and hasn’t hit more than 13 homers or driven in more than 58 RBIs in any of his three previous years in Chicago.

The Indians were listed as one of the teams in Fukudome’s no-trade clause but he agreed to waive it, with the Cubs responsible for the majority of what remains on his $13.5 salary for this season. He becomes a free agent at the end of the year, with the Indians able to offer him salary arbitration. If Fukudome declines, Cleveland will receive a draft pick as compensation under the current collective bargaining agreement.

“I think in the end, Kosuke looked at this as an opportunity to come to a club that was competing, and the opportunity to get regular at-bats,” Antonetti said.

Responsible for only $775,000 of Fukudome’s contract, the Indians essentially acquired him for a pair of prospects, but none from the coveted list that includes first-round draft choices Drew Pomeranz (LHP), Alex White (RHP), Lonnie Chisenhall (3B) and second-round pick Jason Kipnis (2B).

Still, Antonetti said Smith, 25, was close to pitching on the big league level, the right-handed reliever going 2-3 with a 4.50 ERA in 34 games for Triple-A Columbus this year.

Abreu, 22, was batting .244 with 12 homers and 35 RBIs in 91 games for High-A Kinston, Antonetti calling the non-drafted free-agent acquisition in 2006, a talented outfielder.

“We understand that we’re going to have to give up good players to improve the major league team,” Antonetti said. “We felt this was a reasonable cost.”

Fukudome’s addition will not appease fans, nor manager Manny Acta, who want to see the Indians bring aboard a player with the ability to hit in the middle of the order. Antonetti said Fukudome’s acquisition will not prohibit the club from doing so, as Sunday’s trading deadline approaches.

“We’re continuing to look at every opportunity to improve the team,” Antonetti said. “This isn’t going to limit us in the opportunities that we are going to continue to explore. We are going to look at anyway possible to improve the team.”

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

In need of offensive assistance, the Indians acquired Cubs outfielder Kosuke Fukudome on Thursday in a trade for minor league outfielder Abner Abreu and pitcher Carlton Smith.

Fukdome, who is batting .273 with three home runs and 13 RBIs in 87 games for Chicago, is expected to fill in for an injured Shin-Soo Choo in right field.

Cleveland, which has lost six of its last seven games and trails the first-place Tigers by two games in the Central Division, has struggled offensively for much of the year and mightily as of late. The Indians, who were no-hit by the Angels Ervin Santana on Wednesday, have scored seven runs over the past seven games.

To clear room for Fukodome on the big league and 40-man roster, the Indians designated outfielder Travis Buck for assignment.

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Indians have acquired outfielder Kosuke Fukudome from the Chicago Cubs to help their sagging offense.

The Indians dealt Triple-A right-hander Carlton Smith and Class-A outfielder Abner Abreu for Fukudome on Thursday, a day after being no-hit by the Angels Ervin Santana.

The Indians also received cash in the deal. The 34-year-old Fukudome is being paid $13.5 million in 2011.

Fukudome is batting .279 with three homers and 13 RBIs in 87 games this season. In 513 games overall since the Cubs signed him to a four-year, $48 million deal as a much-sought free agent from Japan in 2008, he has hit .262 with 37 homers and 169 RBIs.

Outfielder Travis Buck was designated for assignment to clear roster room in Cleveland.

CLEVELAND — After seven seasons of struggling against the Cleveland Indians, Ervin Santana’s first win at Progressive Field was one for the record books.

Angels starting pitcher Ervin Santana (54) celebrates with his teammates after pitching a no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians Wednesday in Cleveland. (AP photo.)

Santana threw the ninth no-hitter in Los Angeles Angels history Wednesday, striking out 10 in a 3-1 win over the Indians.

“I was able to throw everything today,” Santana said. “My fastball, my curve, even my change-up. I was able to locate all of my pitches.”

The 28-year-old right-hander retired 22 hitters in a row after Ezequiel Carrera led off the game by reaching base on an error by Los Angeles shortstop Erick Aybar.

“What Ervin did today was special,” said Angels manager Mike Scioscia, a former big league catcher who caught no-hitters by Fernando Valenzuela and Kevin Gross as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1980s. “You have to appreciate it even more because he was pitching under pressure in a tight ball game. He had command of his fastball and his breaking ball got sharper as the game went on.

“Every no-hitter is different, but the feeling is the same. There is that special excitement.”

Santana, who is now 6-8 in 2011 and has a career record of 82-64, said he didn’t really start thinking about a no-hitter until the seventh or eighth inning. But he won’t soon forget the feeling when he saw Los Angeles centerfielder Peter Bourjos snag the final out, a fly ball off the bat of Michael Brantley.

“Excitement,” Santana said. “I was proud of our performance today.”

It was the first no-hitter by an Angels pitcher since Mark Langston and Mike Witt combined to no-hit Seattle on April 11, 1990. The last individual no-hitter tossed by an Angels pitcher occurred on the final day of the 1984 season when Mike Witt pitched the only perfect game in franchise history, defeating Texas 1-0.

Wednesday also marked the first time a no-hitter was thrown at Progressive Field since its opening in 1994. The last time Cleveland was no-hit was Sept. 4, 1993, when the New York Yankees’ Jim Abbott held the Tribe hitless at Yankee Stadium.

As special as the day was for Santana, his catcher Bobby Wilson was just as excited about being part of history.

“This is what we all (as catchers) work for every day of our careers to be part of this,” said Wilson, who also caught a no-hitter in Triple-A with the Sacramento River Cats. “All of the time we spend in spring training getting to know the pitchers, this is what it’s all about.”

Santana is 3-0 in the month of July after going 0-4 in June, but Scioscia said Santana has pitched better then his record would indicate.

However, Santana had never previously had success against the Tribe, coming into the game with a career mark of 0-6 with a 4.98 ERA. He made his major league debut at Progressive Field on May 17, 2005, allowing six runs in four innings.

“Ervin has matured as a pitcher since that first start,” Scioscia said. “The biggest difference is his command. Back then he was throwing the ball over the heart of the plate, now he has command of the plate.”

That command was evident Wednesday as Santana threw 76 of his 105 pitches for strikes. He only allowed one walk, to Indians third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall in the eighth inning.

Angels right fielder Torii Hunter said he saw something special Wednesday as he watched Santana work.

“I’ve seen him pitch a lot, he has thrown a lot of good games,” Hunter said. “But this was the best stuff he’s ever had.”

Santana has the distinction of being the first pitcher to toss a non-shutout no-hitter since Houston’s Darryl Kyle in 1993 against the New York Mets. The Indians scored their run in the first inning when Carrera scored on a wild pitch.

Cleveland only hit four balls out of the infield against Santana.

The closest the Indians got to a base hit was in the sixth inning when Jason Kipnis led off the inning with a hard grounder that Los Angeles second baseman Howie Kendrick dove to stop. Kendrick’s throw to Mark Trumbo at first just beat Kipnis.

Santana gave much of the credit for the no-hitter to Wilson.

“Me and Bobby were on the same page,” Santana said. “I just kept my mind on Bobby’s glove and focused in.”

It was the third no-hitter in the American League this season. Minnesota’s Francisco Liriano and Detroit’s Justin Verlander each threw no-hitters in a five-day span in early May.

Santana has the chance to join a more elite group in his next start. In 1938, Johnny Vander Meer became the only pitcher in MLB history to throw back-to-back no-hitters, when, as a member of the Cincinnati Reds, he no-hit the Boston Bees and the Brooklyn Dodgers in consecutive starts.

Contact Todd Shapiro at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.