CLEVELAND – It’s a new month but nothing has changed for the Indians. They’re still winning.

After completing the franchise’s most successful opening month of the season, the Indians kept their winning ways rolling Sunday, kicking off May with a 5-4 victory over the Tigers at Progressive Field.

The win, Cleveland’s 13th straight at home and sixth consecutive overall, completed a three-game sweep of Detroit, leaving the Indians with a 41⁄2-game lead in the Central Division standings and the best record in the American League (19-8).

After a victory over the Tigers on Saturday, Cleveland closer Chris Perez said the Indians’ fast start was better than the movie “Major League.” He was asked Sunday if he still felt the same way.

“For sure,” Perez said. “They didn’t start winning until the second half, if I remember the movie correctly.

“I don’t think anybody could have seen this coming.”

Cleveland’s surprising start was extended by another surprising win over the Tigers, the Indians rallying from a 2-0 deficit for the third straight day.

Detroit scored twice in the opening inning off Justin Masterson, with the Indians tying it in the bottom of the second and rallying for three runs in the eighth to win it.

Masterson was bidding to start the season 6-0 in his first six starts but left without a decision after allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits and a pair of walks.

Had he won, Masterson would have been Cleveland’s first right-hander to win his first six starts since Jim Bagby and Stan Coveleski in 1920. As it stands, Masterson is the first righty to win his first five starts since Bob Lemon in 1955.

After allowing the two runs in the first, Masterson got out of a bases-loaded jam in the second and didn’t allow another run until running out of gas in the eighth inning after throwing a whopping 120 pitches.

“Masterson gave us what we needed,” manager Manny Acta said. “He dialed it up after that second inning.”

“I just kept going with what I had,” Masterson said.

Masterson (5-0, 2.25 ERA) was involved in a bit of controversy after he hit Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera with a pitch in the eighth inning with a runner on first and no outs.

Both benches had already been warned after Detroit starter Phil Coke hit Michael Brantley in the fourth and Masterson returned fire at Ramon Santiago in the fifth. Cabrera was not happy, mouthing an expletive at Masterson as he made his way to first. Shelley Duncan was hit by Joaquin Benoit in Cleveland’s decisive eighth inning.

“It was definitely just a sinker that went in a little bit, unfortunately,” Masterson said of the pitch that hit Cabrera in the left thigh. “I would have rather got the double play.”

The Tigers forged ahead with a run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly from Alex Avila before the Indians came back again.

For the second straight day, the rally came against the beleaguered Benoit, who sports an 8.18 ERA in 13 appearances.

Shin-Soo Choo started the inning with a hit then moved to second after Duncan was hit, scoring the tying run on a one-out single from Orlando Cabrera. The Indians went ahead for good when Michael Brantley followed with a single to left-center.

Matt LaPorta’s sacrifice fly scored Cabrera to provide the final count.

“I’m just going to keep saying it, we’re resilient,” said LaPorta, whose two-run double scored the Indians’ first runs. “We’re keeping pressure on every team we play.”

“Our offense, I can’t say enough about it,” Acta said. “They never give up.”

And they keep on winning.

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

NEXT UP

• WHO: Cleveland at Oakland
• WHEN: Tuesday, 10:05 p.m.
• WHERE: Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, Calif.
• PITCHERS: Carmona (2-3, 5.15 ERA) vs. Ross (1-2, 2.76)
• TV/RADIO: SportsTime Ohio; WEOL 930-AM, WTAM 1100-AM

CLEVELAND – How good was the Indians’ six-game homestand? According to manager Manny Acta, it was “Super fantastic.”
Yes, it was as good as it gets for the Indians, who swept Central Division rivals Kansas City and Detroit to complete the homestand without a loss.
The pair of sweeps gave the Indians five on the season after Cleveland recorded just four all last year.
“I think guys believe that we can win,” first baseman Matt LaPorta said. “I don’t care what team you are, to go out and sweep a couple teams, that’s tough to do at any level you play at.”
The three-game sweep of the Tigers was an impressive one, with the Indians rallying from 2-0 deficits in all three games.
“It does a lot for their confidence,” Acta said. “Winning breeds confidence anyway, but the fact that we came back in each of those games, breeds even more confidence.”
After winning their 13th straight home game Sunday, the Indians leave the comfort of Progressive Field for a six-game West Coast road swing that takes them through Oakland and Los Angeles.
“The expectations don’t change, try to win every game,” Acta said. “We know we have our work cut out for us. That being said, our guys are throwing the ball well and swinging the bat well.
“We’re going to try to take some food on the road from this home cooking.”

Still no Pronk

Designated hitter Travis Hafner missed his fourth straight game with a strained tendon in his right foot.
Hafner is available to pinch hit but is wearing a walking boot.
He is scheduled to be re-evaluated today with the Indians hopeful that he can return to the lineup Tuesday. If the examination is not a positive one, Hafner will most likely be headed to the disabled list.

Next up

The Indians are off today and on the West Coast for the next six games, beginning a three-game series in Oakland on Tuesday night (10:07).
Fausto Carmona (2-3, 5.15 ERA) opens the set against the A’s, opposing RHP Tyson Ross (1-2, 2.76), while Josh Tomlin (4-0, 2.45) starts for Cleveland on Wednesday (10:07 p.m.) against RHP Trevor Cahill (4-0, 1.88).
Jeanmar Gomez (0-1, 6.23) starts the series finale Wednesday (3:37 p.m.), while Oakland counters with LHP Brett Anderson (2-1, 1.56).

Minor details

Luis Valbuena hit his fourth homer in Triple-A Columbus’ 6-0 victory over Charlotte on Saturday, the Clippers’ 10th straight win. Valbuena, who has played in 194 games for the Indians over the past two years, entered Sunday batting .300 with five doubles and 12 RBIs in 19 games.
• Adam Miller’s season debut Saturday did not go well. The right-hander took the loss in advanced Class A Kinston’s 4-0 setback against Binghamton after allowing four runs (three earned) on four hits (homer) and a walk in just one inning. It was the first professional appearance for Miller since 2008, with the Indians’ former top pitching prospect attempting to come back from multiple surgeries on his right middle finger.
• Jason Smit continues to tear it up at Class A Lake County, where he was batting .372 through Saturday after a 3-for-4 performance a 4-1 victory over South Bend. Smit is an Australian-born minor league free agent acquisition (2006).

Roundin’ third

The Indians entered Sunday with the league lead in batting average (.272), runs (141) and on-base percentage (.344).
• Of Shin-Soo Choo’s 15 RBIs through Saturday, seven had either tied the game or given the Indians the lead. Orlando Cabrera entered Sunday with similar numbers, six of his 16 RBIs tying the game of giving the Indians the advantage.
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Follow him
on Twitter and Facebook.

CLEVELAND — How good was the Indians’ recent six-game homestand? According to manager Manny Acta, it was “Super fantastic.”

Yes, it was as good as it gets for the Indians, who swept Central Division rivals Kansas City and Detroit to complete the six-game homestand with a perfect 6-0 record.

The pair of sweeps gave the Indians five on the season after Cleveland recorded just four all of last year.

“I think guys believe that we can win,” first baseman Matt LaPorta said. “I don’t care what team you are, to go out and sweep a couple teams, that’s tough to do at any level you play at.”

The three-game sweep of the Tigers was an impressive one, with the Indians rallying from 2-0 deficits in all three of the wins.

“It does a lot for their confidence,” manager Manny Acta said. “Winning breeds confidence anyway, but the fact that we came back in each of those games, breeds even more confidence.”

After winning their 13th straight home game Sunday, the Indians leave the comfort of Progressive Field for a six-game west coast road swing that takes them through Oakland and Los Angeles.

“The expectations don’t change, try to win every game,” Acta said. “We know we have our work cut out for us. That being said, our guys are throwing the ball well and swinging the bat well.

“We’re going to try to take some food on the road from this home cooking.”

Still no Pronk

Designated hitter Travis Hafner missed his fourth straight game with a strained tendon in his right foot.

Hafner is available to pinch hit but is wearing a walking boot.

He is scheduled to be re-evaluated today with the Indians hopeful that he can return to the lineup Tuesday. If the examination is not a positive one, Hafner will most likely be headed to the disabled list.

Next up

The Indians are off today and on the west coast for the next six games, beginning a three-game series in Oakland on Tuesday night (10:07).

Fausto Carmona (2-3, 5.15 ERA) opens the set against the A’s, opposing RHP Tyson Ross (1-2, 2.76), while Josh Tomlin (4-0, 2.45) starts for Cleveland on Wednesday (10:07 p.m.) against RHP Trevor Cahill (4-0, 1.88).

Jeanmar Gomez (0-1, 6.23) starts the series finale Wednesday (3:37 p.m.), while Oakland counters with LHP Brett Anderson (2-1, 1.56).

Minor details

Luis Valbuena hit his fourth homer in Triple-A Columbus’ 6-0 victory over Charlotte on Saturday, the Clippers’ 10th straight win. Valbuena, who has played in 194 games for the Indians over the past two years, entered Sunday batting .300 with five doubles and 12 RBIs in 19 games. … Adam Miller’s season debut Saturday did not go well, the right-hander taking the loss in advanced Class A Kinston’s 4-0 loss to Binghamton after allowing four runs (three earned) on four hits (homer) and a walk in just one inning. It was the first professional appearance for Miller since 2008, with the Indians’ former top pitching prospect attempting to come back from multiple surgeries on his right middle finger. … Jason Smit continues to tear it up at Class A Lake County, where he was batting .372 through Saturday after a 3-for-4 performance in the Captains’ 4-1 victory over South Bend. Smit is an Australian-born minor league free agent acquisition (2006).

Roundin’ third

The Indians entered Sunday with the league lead in batting average (.272), runs (141) and on-base percentage (.344). … Of Shin-Soo Choo’s 15 RBIs through Saturday, seven of them had either tied the game or given the Indians the lead. Orlando Cabrera entered Sunday with similar numbers, six of his 16 RBIs tying the game of giving the Indians the advantage.

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

CLEVELAND — It’s a new month but nothing has changed for the Indians. They’re still winning.

After completing the franchise’s most successful opening month of the season, the Indians kept their winning ways rolling Sunday, kicking off May with a 5-4 victory over the Tigers at Progressive Field.

The win, Cleveland’s 13th straight at home and sixth consecutive overall, completed a three-game sweep of Detroit, leaving the Indians with a 4 1/2-game lead in the Central Division standings and the best record in the American League (19-8).

After a victory over the Tigers on Saturday, Cleveland closer Chris Perez said the Indians’ fast start was better than the movie “Major League.” He was asked Sunday if he still felt the same way.

“For sure,” Perez said. “They didn’t start winning until the second half, if I remember the movie correctly.

“I don’t think anybody could have seen this coming.”

Cleveland’s surprising start was extended by another surprising win over the Tigers, the Indians rallying from a 2-0 deficit for the third straight day.

Detroit scored twice in the opening inning off Cleveland starter Justin Masterson, with the Indians tying it in the bottom of the second and rallying for three runs in the eighth to win it.

Masterson was bidding to start the season 6-0 in his first six starts but left without a decision after allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits and a pair of walks.

Had he won, Masterson would have been Cleveland’s first right-hander to win his first six starts since Jim Bagby and Stan Coveleski accomplished as much in 1920. As it stands, Masterson is the first righty to win his first five starts since Bob Lemon in 1955.

After allowing the two runs in the first, Masterson got out of a bases-loaded jam in the second and didn’t allow another run until running out of gas in the eighth inning after throwing a whopping 120 pitches.

“Masterson gave us what we needed,” manager Manny Acta said. “He dialed it up after that second inning.”

“I just kept going with what I had,” Masterson said.

Masterson (5-0, 2.25 ERA) was involved in a bit of controversy after he hit Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera with a pitch in the eighth inning with a runner on first and no outs.

Both benches had already been warned after Detroit starter Phil Coke hit Michael Brantley in the fourth and Masterson returned fire at Ramon Santiago in the fifth, and was Cabrera was not happy, mouthing an expletive at Masterson as he made his way to first. Shelley Duncan was hit by Joaquin Benoit in Cleveland’s decisive eighth inning.

“It was definitely just a sinker that went in a little bit, unfortunately,” Masterson said of the pitch that hit Cabrera in the left thigh. “I would have rather got the double play.”

The Tigers forged ahead with a run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly from Alex Avila before the Indians came back again.

For the second straight day, the rally came against the beleaguered Benoit, who sports an 8.18 ERA in 13 appearances.

Shin-Soo Choo started the inning with a base hit then moved to second after Duncan was hit, scoring the tying run on a one-out single from Orlando Cabrera. The Indians went ahead for good when the following batter, Michael Brantley, singled to left-center.

Matt LaPorta’s sacrifice fly to score Cabrera provided the final count.

“I’m just going to keep saying it, we’re resilient,” said LaPorta, whose two-run double scored the Indians’ first runs. “We’re keeping pressure on every team we play.”

“Our offense, I can’t say enough about it,” Acta said. “They never give up.”

And they keep on winning.

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