CLEVELAND – Travis Buck needed a confidence boost.

Just getting the nod from Cleveland manager Manny Acta for his first major league game as a designated hitter Saturday might have been enough. But Buck’s two-run home run in the seventh inning was the difference in the Indians’ 2-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds and the seldom-used outfielder was all smiles after the game.

“It feels great,” Buck said. “It speaks volumes of what Manny really thinks of me and my ability. My first two (at-bats) … I hit a groundball weakly and a lazy flyball to left. After the second at-bat, Manny called me over and lit a fire under me a little bit.”

The pep talk worked wonders.

Buck sent the first pitch he saw from Homer Bailey in the seventh inning

392 feet into the left-field seats. It was Buck’s first home run since April 20, 2010, against the Yankees.

With the way Bailey was pitching – perfect through 32⁄3 innings – and with the wind blowing straight in from center field, Buck knew that a little luck was needed to get the ball out of the park.

“I knew that’s all I’ve got,” he said when asked if he knew the ball was gone when he hit it. “I crushed it and I knew the wind was knocking down a lot of balls today. Fortunately it was kind of on a line drive. If it was a little more in the air, it probably would have been caught on the warning track.”

The shot earned high praise from his manager.

“We continue to find a new hero on a daily basis, and today Travis Buck got the big hit with that two-run homer,” Acta said. “The guy’s always been talented. This is like his fifth year that he’s made an opening-day roster. Today was a typical example of what he can do.”

It’s been tough for Buck to prove his manager right. He saw limited time during the first few weeks of the season, then was sent down April 19 when Grady Sizemore made his return from the disabled list. He returned to the major league club May 16 when Sizemore made his second trip to the DL.

“We like (Buck), but unfortunately you can only keep 25 guys up here,” Acta said. “The reason we sent him down was because Grady came back and we already had a lot of left-handed outfielders.”

All but one of them to be exact. Sizemore, Shin-Soo Choo and Michael Brantley – the normal starters – are all left-handed, as is newly promoted Ezequiel Carerra. Only reserve Austin Kearns bats from the right side.

“I know it’s a numbers game,” said Buck, who has started 10 games in left field and one in center for the Tribe this season. “Whenever my name is in the lineup, I’m going to go out and try my best to help this team win.”

After seeing his career as Oakland’s starting center fielder derailed by injuries, Buck accepted a minor league contract with the Indians in December. He played well enough in spring training to earn a spot on the Indians’ opening-day roster – aided by the fact that Sizemore began the season on the DL.

Since his return, he’s been batting well. In his last six games as a starter, he’s hitting .391 with a home run, double and six RBIs.

A lot of that may be due to the way Buck handled being sent down to the Clippers.

“I wasn’t discouraged at all,” he said. “From Day 1, Manny and (general manager) Chris (Antonetti) told me how much they believed in me and my ability. I just needed a fresh start.

“Guys that get sent down can take it two ways – they can be really upset and struggle, or they can go down there and take care of business the same way they would up here and hopefully be the first call-up.”

The recent hot streak and the big hit Saturday are what Buck points to when he’s trying to explain what he can do and why the Indians have stood by him this year. He said the team’s support is one of the reasons he’s happy to have signed with the Indians as a free agent.

“Having a manager like Manny and the guys in the locker room that have your back and know what you can do, it’s going to bring out the best in yourself,” Buck said. “I haven’t had that before. I’m just fortunate to be in a great place where I feel I can have a great career.”

The outfielder is tired of the injuries and the bouncing back and forth to the minors. He and all the Indians fans are hoping that finally the Buck stops here.

Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com. Fan him

on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.

CLEVELAND – Nothing went right for the Indians over the first 5½ innings at Progressive Field on Friday night.

Then nothing went wrong.

A series opener against the Reds that appeared earmarked as a loss for the home team wound up in the winning column, with the Indians producing another hair-raising victory – a 5-4 decision that snapped a two-game losing skid.

Cleveland trailed the entire game before tying it with a four-run sixth inning and winning it on a perfectly executed drag bunt from Ezequiel Carrrera, who scored Shin-Soo Choo in the eighth.

The last six wins at home have come in the last at-bat for the Indians, who own the best record in the majors (27-15) and a six-game lead in the Central Division standings.

“It started shaky but we stuck with it,” said Indians manager Manny Acta, whose team lost starting pitcher Alex White to injury, committed two errors on double-play balls and didn’t have a hit through the first five innings. “It’s a very nice win, especially the way it started.”

Carrera was an unlikely hero to say the least.

The 23-year-old outfielder was promoted from Triple-A Columbus prior to the game and sat on the bench for 7½ innings before delivering his first hit in his first big league at-bat on the biggest of stages.

“It’s unbelievable,” Carrera said. “First bunt, first RBI, we win the game.”

The eighth inning began harmlessly enough with Reds reliever Bill Bray retiring the first two batters before allowing a triple to Shin-Soo Choo and intentionally walking Carlos Santana.

Nick Masset relieved Bray with Shelley Duncan scheduled to come to the plate when Acta went to his bag of tricks.

Cleveland’s manager pinch hit Carrera for Duncan and Carrera made Acta look like a genius by placing a perfect drag bunt down the first-base line on the first pitch he saw. Carrera then avoided the tag and reached base safely as Choo crossed the plate with the go-ahead run.

“It was a perfect spot for (Carrera),” Acta said. “All you need is a hit. To bunt a ball, it doesn’t take experience or a different stadium. He’s done that his whole life. He executed it perfectly.”

Things did not go perfectly for White, who was in the midst of a promising debut season after replacing an injured Mitch Talbot in the rotation.

White, the Indians’ first-round draft pick in 2010, might be replacing Talbot on the disabled list after leaving with soreness in his right middle finger.

The right-hander appeared to sustain the injury on a slider to Ryan Hanigan, the first batter he faced in the third inning. Both head trainer Lonnie Soloff and Acta visited the mound before White continued, striking out Hanigan, but walking three and allowing two runs and leaving after the inning was complete.

He is scheduled to undergo an MRI today.

White might have been able to get out of the inning without a run crossing the plate but first baseman Matt LaPorta blew a potential double-play ball by misfiring to second base after fielding a grounder from Joey Votto. The boot, one of a season-high three errors from the Indians, scored two runs.

Cincinnati took a 4-0 lead in the sixth inning, another error – this one by second baseman Orlando Cabrera – on a possible double-play situation contributing to the runs.

Cleveland wasted no time atoning for its shoddy play, tying the game in the bottom of the inning as Reds starter Travis Wood inexplicably lost his touch.

The Cincinnati left-hander allowed just one baserunner through the first five innings on a leadoff walk to Santana in the second. But after retiring the first batter in the sixth, Wood unraveled, allowing three straight hits and a walk before hitting Choo with a pitch and being removed.

Santana’s bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly from Duncan tied it at 4.

It was the largest deficit the Indians have overcome all season, improving to a major league-best 16-4 at home.

Cleveland didn’t win its 27th game last year until June 27 in its 74th game.

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

TODAY

• WHO: Cleveland vs. Cincinnati
• TIME: 4:05
• WHERE: Progressive Field
• PITCHERS: Tomlin (5-1, 2.56 ERA) vs. Bailey (3-0, 1.89)
• TV/RADIO: SportsTime Ohio; WEOL 930-AM, WTAM 1100-AM

CLEVELAND – The Indians have handled pretty much everything en route to this surprising start to the season. Now we’ll see how they deal with adversity.

Travis Hafner was placed on the disabled list Friday with a strained right oblique muscle that is expected to sideline him for the next three to four weeks.

The oft-injured designated hitter was off to a big start, batting .345 with five home runs and 22 RBIs in 32 games.

“It’s a 6-foot-3, 240-pound blow. It’s a big blow,” manager Manny Acta said. “Obviously, he’s a big part of our lineup, and he’s been swinging the bat so good from Day 1.

“But you know what, we’ve got to deal with it. Every team is dealing with some type of injury, and it’s an opportunity for someone to step up.”

The Indians are now dealing with two injuries to key offensive cogs in Hafner and Grady Sizemore, who is on the DL with a bruised right knee.

Sizemore has been sidelined since injuring the knee on a slide into second base May 10, but he did take pregame batting practice Friday for the first time since sustaining the injury. He is eligible to leave the disabled list Thursday.

Acta said he plans on rotating players into Hafner’s DH spot from a pool that includes Shelley Duncan, Travis Buck and Austin Kearns. Duncan and Kearns will likely fill Hafner’s absence against left-handed pitchers, while Travis Buck plays against righties. Matt LaPorta could also DH when catcher Carlos Santana plays first base.

Hafner has been able to avoid the right shoulder issues that have plagued him for the past three years, but this is the second occasion that he has missed time with an injury this season. He was out for a short spell in April with a strained tendon in his foot.

The Indians promoted outfielder Ezequiel Carrera from Triple-A Columbus to fill Hafner’s roster spot and reliever Frank Herrmann to take the place of Justin Germano, who was designated for assignment Thursday.

Infielder Luis Valbuena was optioned back to Columbus.

Talbot’s time

Mitch Talbot is ready to leave the disabled list, but the Indians still haven’t announced whether he will replace Alex White or Carlos Carrasco in the rotation.

Talbot, who has been sidelined with a strained right elbow since April 17, made his third and final rehab appearance Thursday, allowing a run on four hits over four innings, while striking out five in Columbus’ postponed game against Pawtucket.

“We haven’t made that decision yet,” Acta said. “At the end of the day, we’re going to do what’s best for the team. Mitch Talbot pitched well for us before he went down and he won double digits for us last year. I think he deserves a chance to start.

“At the same time, you’ve got two young guys that are throwing the ball well.”

White (1-0, 2.75 ERA) might be the likely choice to depart after leaving his start prematurely Friday with a finger injury. Carrasco (2-2, 5.03) is scheduled to start Sunday.

The Indians won’t need to make the move until early next week, with Talbot (1-0, 1.46) set to leave the DL and return to the rotation Wednesday in the series finale with Boston.

U-S-A, U-S-A

The Indians decorated Orlando Cabrera’s locker with American flags and red-white-and-blue garland in celebration of him becoming a U.S. citizen.

“It’s extremely special,” said the 36-year-old native of Columbia. “I’m really proud to be an American. It’s another chapter in my life. I’m very happy.”

“That’s what it’s all about,” said Acta, a native of the Dominican Republic who became a U.S. citizen in 1999. “God bless America.”

Minor details

Left-hander Nick Hagadone was promoted to Columbus after going 2-1 with a 1.59 ERA in 12 appearances out of Double-A Akron’s bullpen.

Hagadone, acquired along with Justin Masterson in a trade with Boston for Victor Martinez in 2009, limited Double-A batters to a .175 average, while striking out 24 over 222⁄3 innings.

• Akron outfielder Tim Fedroff stayed hot with a 2-for-3 performance (two doubles) in the Aeros’ 6-1 win over Altoona on Thursday. Fedroff, a seventh-round draft pick in 2008, entered Friday batting a team-best .352 (second in the International League) with two homers and 19 RBIs in 35 games.

Roundin’ third

The Indians entered Friday with a 34-45 all-time record against the Reds, Cincinnati winning each of the last seven series. Cleveland owned an all-time mark of 118-129 in interleague play through Thursday.

• Asdrubal Cabrera entered Friday leading AL shortstops in runs (28), hits (49) homers (seven) and RBIs (27). He was riding a 10-game hitting streak, which is two shy of his career high.

• Today’s game is sold out, the first sellout at Progressive Field since Opening Day.

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