CLEVELAND — Father’s Day isn’t until June 19, but Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera got a jump on the festivities Sunday afternoon at Progressive Field.

After playing with his 3-year-old son Meyer on the field prior to the series finale against Cincinnati, Cabrera celebrated the occasion by powering the Indians to a 12-4 victory and a sweep of the Reds.

The 25-year-old shortstop who is quickly morphing into one of the majors’ best at his position, enjoyed a career day at the plate, going 5-for-5 with two home runs and five RBIs.

“Asdrubal Cabrera was a one-man show,” said Cleveland manager Manny Acta, whose club improved to a major league-leading 29-15 overall and a big league-best 18-4 at home (equals best start in franchise history). “He just took over. He continues to play like an All-Star for us since Day 1.”

Actually, Cabrera had help, the majority of it coming from leadoff batter Michael Brantley and Shin-Soo Choo — the two players that hit around Cabrera (second) in the batting order.

Cleveland’s top three hitters accounted for 10 of their team’s 13 hits, scored six runs and drove in nine. They went 7-for-7 with five RBIs against Red starter Edinson Volquez, who lasted just 2 2/3 innings.

But it was Cabrera that stood out, setting career highs in hits and homers, while equaling a career high with his RBI total. The last Indians player to collect five hits and five RBIs in a game was Victor Martinez, who drove in seven against the Mariners in 2004.

Cabrera is healthy after an injury-plagued 2010 and has asserted himself on the level of the elite shortstops in the game, batting .302 with a team-leading nine homers and 32 RBIs.

“We do know that he is one of the best at the position,” Acta said.

“I don’t think too much about that,” Cabrera said of his standing among top-shelf shortstops. “I’m just trying to help the team win and have fun. (I’m healthy), that’s the only difference. My whole body feels good.”

The surging Indians are feeling good after sweeping Cincinnati for the first time in seven years, with the Reds entering the three-game set having won each of the last seven series between the intrastate interleague rivals.

“They are tough at home,” said Reds manager Dusty Baker, whose team lost its fifth straight game on the heels of a five-game winning streak. “They’re playing good baseball. Whatever they needed, they got this series.”

After winning the first two games of the series with comebacks, Cleveland scored early, leading 7-0 after three innings.

Cabrera hit a two-run homer in the first, with a throwing error from Reds catcher Ramon Hernandez scoring two more in the four-run opening inning for the Indians.

Right-hander Carlos Carrasco (3-2, 5.16 ERA) was the beneficiary of the early support, getting the win after allowing four runs on six hits (two homers) over six innings.

Carrasco surrendered solo shots to Joey Votto in the first and Jay Bruce in the sixth — a two-run inning for Cincinnati, which closed the gap to 7-3 before Cabrera’s solo homer in the bottom of inning.

The rout was on after Cleveland scored four times in the seventh, getting RBI doubles from Brantley and Jack Hannahan and a run-scoring single from Cabrera in his last at-bat.

Despite seeing three players land on the disabled list last week — Grady Sizemore, Travis Hafner and Alex White — the magic continued for the Indians, who are off to their best start after 44 games since 2001. They are 14 games over .500 for the first time since 2007 and own a seven-game lead in the Central Division standings.

“We’ve got a good team,” Cabrera said. “We know it, and we want to keep it going.”

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

CLEVELAND — Alex White’s promising debut season in the big leagues has been put on hold, possibly for the rest of the year.

White, who was placed on the disabled list Saturday, is expected to miss at least two months after an MRI revealed a sprained ligament in his right middle finger.

The right-hander, who was Cleveland’s first-round draft choice in 2010, sustained the injury while throwing a slider in the third inning Friday, leaving after the inning was complete for what could be his final appearance of the season at Progressive Field.

“It’s very disappointing,” said White, who was 1-0 with a 3.76 ERA in his first two big league starts prior to Friday. “I don’t want to use the word heartbreaking, but it really is. It’s been a long road to get here, and I want to be part of what’s going on here.”

According to head trainer Lonnie Soloff, White will begin playing catch in three to four weeks, but the Indians will not rush him back, which puts the rest of White’s season — at least in the majors — in jeopardy.

“We want to be as conservative as possible in Alex’s case,” Soloff said.

Adding more disappointment for White is the fact that he feels as though he can still compete. He can still throw his fastball, but can’t use his normal grip on breaking pitches, such as the slider he threw Friday.

“It feels OK,” he said. “The swelling’s down. I can still throw with velocity. I think that’s the frustrating part. I think I can pitch, but at this point, we just have to be safe and get it better.”

Soloff and manager Manny Acta came to the mound after White injured the finger, but did not remove him once White had thrown warmup pitches.

“He was adamant about his ability to stay in the game and compete,” Soloff said. “It speaks to Alex’s toughness and his competitiveness.”

There is one positive for White, with the Indians not fearing this is a similar situation to right-hander Adam Miller, a former top pitching prospect in the organization, whose career was sidetracked by a multitude of surgeries on his right middle finger.

“In Miller’s case, there were other complicating factors that are not present with Alex,” Soloff said.

Right-hander Mitch Talbot is set to leave the disabled list and will replace White in the rotation. White was filling in for Talbot but wasn’t a lock to return to the minors once Talbot was ready for activation.

Sizemore’s status

Soloff said Grady Sizemore (bruised right knee) would increase his baseball activities over the next three days.

Sizemore has begun to take batting practice but has not played since sustaining the injury May 10 on a slide into second base. The Indians are hopeful that he will be ready to leave the disabled list for the series opener at Tampa Bay on Friday.

Tomlin time

Add another milestone to Josh Tomlin’s young career.

The right-hander, who is the only Indians pitcher to last at least five innings in each of his first 21 career big league starts, is also the first Cleveland pitcher since the earned run became official in 1913 to start the season with nine quality starts (six innings, three runs or fewer).

Tomlin, 26, was tied for the major league-lead with six wins through Saturday and led the majors with a 0.82 WHIP. Opponents are batting just .103 (3-for-29) off him with runners in scoring position, second in the American League behind New York’s Freddy Garcia (.098) through Saturday.

Next up

The Indians wrap up the homestand with a three-game series against Boston that begins tonight at 7:10.

Justin Masterson (5-2, 2.52 ERA) opens the set, opposing RHP Clay Buchholz (4-3, 3.42), while Fausto Carmona (3-4, 4.76) goes for the Indians on Tuesday (7:05), the Red Sox countering with RHP Josh Beckett (3-1, 1.73).

Talbot (1-0, 1.46) starts for Cleveland in the series finale Wednesday (12:05), while Boston goes with LHP Jon Lester (6-1, 3.68).

Cleveland swept the Red Sox in a three-game series at Progressive Field on April 5-7.

Minor details

Chad Huffman had a big game in Triple-A Columbus’ 11-8 win over Durham on Saturday, going 3-for-5 with his sixth homer, three RBIs and two runs. Huffman, who was claimed off waivers from the Yankees at the end of last season, was hitting .273 with 26 RBIs in 39 games through Saturday. … Right-hander Paolo Espino won his first start for Double-A Akron on Saturday, allowing a run on three hits, while striking out six over five innings of an 8-1 victory over Altoona. Espino, a 10th-round draft pick in 2006, is 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in 10 appearances for the Aeros after being demoted from Columbus.

Roundin’ third

The Indians drew 99,086 fans during the three-game series with Cincinnati. It is the highest attendance figure for a three-game series at Progressive Field since Sept. 19-21, 2008, against Detroit. … The Indians entered Sunday tied with Toronto for the American League’s best team ERA (2.99). … Josh Judy made his big league debut, pitching a scoreless ninth inning and allowing two hits while getting his first major league strikeout. … Tonight, 7:10, STO/ESPN2/WTAM 1100-AM/WEOL 930-AM.

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

The Indians drubbed the Reds 12-4 at Progressive Field on Sunday to complete their first sweep of Cincinnati since 2004.

The major league-leading Indians improved to 29-15 and a big league-best 18-4 at home.

Asdrubal Cabrera powered the offense, going 5-for-5 with two home runs and five RBIs.

CLEVELAND – The Indians drew their second sellout crowd of the season to Progressive Field on Saturday, and none of the fans left disappointed – unless they were cheering for Cincinnati.

For the second straight day, the Indians turned back the Reds, getting another quality outing from Josh Tomlin and more late offense to win 2-1. They secured the series in their first interleague matchup.

A crowd of 40,631 watched it all unfold, as the Indians improved to a major league-best 28-15 overall and 17-4 at home.

“The crowd that showed up today saw an outstanding ballgame,” said Indians manager Manny Acta, whose team rallied late for the second consecutive day as Travis Buck hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning to overcome a 1-0 deficit. “Both Josh and (Reds starter) Homer Bailey were fantastic. It was fun watching those two.”

For the most part, the game was a pitching duel between Tomlin and Bailey, neither giving ground over the first six scoreless innings.

Tomlin bent first, allowing a run in the top of the seventh. But it was Bailey who broke in the bottom of the inning by surrendering the game-changing homer to Buck.

“I was just trying to go out there and match him inning to inning and give us a chance to win late,” said Tomlin, who allowed a run on three hits over seven innings to improve to 6-1 with a 2.41 ERA in nine starts. “I was able to locate my pitches pretty well and had the hitters off-balance for the most part.”

The six wins equal the most in the majors, as Tomlin continued his impressive streak of pitching at least five innings in each of his 21 career big league starts dating to last year – the only Cleveland pitcher in history to accomplish as much.

Tomlin allowed a hit to the first batter he faced, but Bailey was perfect through 32⁄3 innings before a bloop single from Shin-Soo Choo ended the bid.

Bailey still stifled the Indians, retiring the side in order in the fifth and sixth before Cleveland finally broke through in the seventh.

A leadoff single from Asdrubal Cabrera was followed by two straight outs before Buck, who was recalled from Triple-A Columbus earlier in the week and was in the lineup at designated hitter in place of an injured Travis Hafner, landed the big blow.

It was another contribution from a different player, something that has helped fuel Cleveland’s fast start this season.

“We continue to find a new hero on a daily basis,” Acta said.

For one of the few times this season, the Indians can give an assist to the fans, who turned up to create an electric atmosphere.

Reliever Vinnie Pestano felt it in the eighth inning when he preserved the one-run lead after allowing a leadoff single to Ryan Hanigan. With Hanigan at first, Pestano struck out the next three batters, leaving the mound to a raucous roar from the hometown fans.

“That was the biggest crowd I’ve ever thrown in front of,” said Pestano, who is in the midst of his debut season in the big leagues. “They get your adrenaline going. I could feel my heart beat out there. I thought it was going to pop.

“The Tribe at home late. The seventh, eighth and ninth inning. That’s when we score, so stick with us.”

Closer Chris Perez followed Pestano to the mound and, despite walking two, was able to hold Cincinnati scoreless in the ninth, touching off one more celebration from the crowd when he struck out Scott Rolen to end the game.

“It’s amazing the energy you get in this stadium,” Acta said. “Some of the guys that were here in 2007 came to me and said, ‘This is it. This is how it was in 2007.’”

Indians fans will remember that 2007 was the last time their team qualified for the postseason. They may have even more to celebrate when this regular season is complete.

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