CLEVELAND — The black cloud that has hovered over the Indians all season has been replaced by some sunshine.

With everything going their way as of late, the Indians extended their winning streak to a season­high five games, completing a four-game sweep of the Blue Jays with a 6-1 victory Thursday after­noon at Progressive Field.

Cleveland got an impressive out­ing from starting pitcher Justin Masterson and used a big fourth inning to record their first four­game sweep of the Jays since 1995.

“Masterson was just fantastic,” said Cleveland manager Manny Acta. “He had the most confidence I’ve seen him have in his breaking ball. He had them beating the ball into the ground all day.

“He was very good. He was just short of dominant.”

Masterson set the tone for another enjoyable day for the hometown fans, taking a shutout into the final inning before run­ning out of gas.

Relying primarily on an effective slider, the right-hander allowed just a run on eight hits, while strik­ing out five over 8 1/3 innings.

More photos below.

“It was the most consistent one to throw for a strike,” Masterson said of his slider. “The other pitches were OK, but that was the pitchthat kind ofgot me on track.” Masterson has been on track since it appeared that he might be heading back to the bullpen after a series of struggles. He’s turned it around and solidified his spot in the rotation by going 3-2 with a 3.51 ERA over his last six starts.

“It’s never doubting,” Masterson said. “It’s just, ‘When are we going to do what we know we can do?’ You have to have that confidence.”

“It’s been a pleasure to watch him pitch after the slow start that he had,” Acta said. “He persevered.”

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Masterson was backed by more than enough offense, all of it coming in a decisive six-run fourth inning.

A surging Matt LaPorta got it started by clouting a three-run home run for the game’s first runs. It came off Blue Jays starter Shawn Marcum, who had shut down Cleveland to that point, limiting the Indians to just a walk over the first three innings.

“He was pitching a great game,” said LaPorta, who became the first Cleveland player this season to hit homers in three consecutive games with his blast to the home-run porch in left field. “He just made a mistake and left it over the plate a little too much. I was just trying to hit it hard.

“It’s always nice to go out there and help the team win. It’s not a surprise. I don’t know what it is.”

What came as a bit of surprise was Shelley Duncan following LaPorta with a homer of his own. It was the first time the Indians hit consecutive homers this season.

Cleveland left the yard twice on the day, while Toronto went without a long ball for the fourth consecutive game. It is a season-long drought for the Jays, who lead the majors in home runs, but were kept in the park by Indians pitchers the entire series.

“It had a lot to do with our starters,” Acta said. “We have a lot of sinkerball pitchers and they kept the ball on the ground.”

Masterson’s victory accounted for the fifth straight win by an Indians starting pitcher, something the club hasn’t accomplished since 2005.

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

CLEVELAND — Matt LaPorta, the key cog in the CC Sabathia trade, has largely been a disappointment since joining the Indians in 2008 — until now. The Indians are finally getting some return from the projected star, who has belted home runs in three straight games, becom­ing the only Cleveland player to accomplish the feat this season in a 6-1 victory over the Blue Jays on Thursday.

Since being recalled from Triple-A Columbus five games ago after the Russell Branyan trade to Seattle, LaPorta, who opened the season with the Indi­ans but was demoted after bat­ting just .218 with one homer and seven RBIs in 35 games, has been a different player.

What’s his secret?

“My secret?” said LaPorta. “Ask God. He’s got the secrets.”

LaPorta did little to impress over two extended stints with the Indians the past two sea­sons, but he’s made an immedi­ate impact this time around.

“It’s fun to watch him,” said starting pitcher Justin Master­son. “He’s come up and made his presence known, which is pretty cool.”

“He’s attacking the ball a little bit more,” Acta said of LaPorta, who hit .362 with five homers and 16 RBIs in 18 games for Columbus prior to his promo­tion. “It helps that he went down there and had success. Success breeds confidence in everyone. It also helps that he knows he’s going to see his name on the lineup card every day, but for the most part, it was just going down and building confidence.” With Branyan at first base, LaPorta received sporadic play­ing time. Now that Branyan is out of the way, the at-bats are expected to be there on a regu­lar basis.

“It definitely helps me relax a little bit more, but you still have to go out and produce,” LaPorta said.

That’s what LaPorta is finally doing.

Closer in waiting

The Indians are touting reliever Chris Perez as a dark horse All-Star candidate.

After a shaky start to the season, the right-hander has his ERA down to 2.90, while limiting opposing hitters to a .217 batting average in 32 appearances (31 innings).

Perez, who is expected to assume the closer role from Kerry Wood next season, has converted seven of 10 save opportunities, while filling in for Wood. That’s one less save than Wood has.

Next up

The Indians complete their seven-game homestand with a three-game series against Oakland that begins tonight at 7:05.

Mitch Talbot (8-6, 3.88 ERA) opens the set, opposing LHP Gio Gonzalez (6-5, 3.74), while Jake Westbrook (5-4, 4.69) goes Saturday (7:05 p.m.) against LHP Dallas Braden (4-7, 3.83).

Fausto Carmona (7-6, 3.68) will pitch the series finale Sunday (1:05 p.m.), while the A’s counter with RHP Vin Mazzaro (3-2, 4.25).

Minor details

• Left fielder Michael Brantley and first baseman Jordan Brown had three hits each Wednesday in Columbus’ 7-2 victory over Indianapolis. Brown drove in four runs. Carlos Carrasco got the win, allowing two runs on five hits and five walks (six strikeouts) over five innings.
• ◾Right-hander Alex White got the win in Double-A Akron’s 8-6 victory over Richmond on Wednesday, allowing just one earned run on five hits over 6 1 / 3 innings. White, Cleveland’s first-round draft pick (15th overall) last year, is 3-4 with a 1.72 ERA in eight starts for the Aeros.
• ◾Class A Lake County first baseman Jeremie Tice hit a pair of homers and drove in five runs in the Captains’ 5-3 victory over Great Lakes on Wednesday. Tice, a sixth-round draft pick in 2008, entered Thursday batting .287 with a team-leading nine homers and 51 RBIs in 64 games.

Roundin’ third

• Though he entered the game with a five-run lead in the ninth, reliever Frank Herrmann was able to notch the first save of his career.
• ◾A scoring change from Wednesday night gave Austin Kearns a single on a play that was originally ruled an error on Toronto third baseman John McDonald in the seventh inning.

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

Justin Masterson allowed just a run over 8 1/3 innings Thursday and the Indians got home runs from Matt LaPorta and Shelley Duncan in a 6-1 victory over the Blue Jays.

The win gave the Indians a four-game sweep of the Jays and accounted for Cleveland’s season-high fifth straight victory.

LaPorta homered for the third time in three games and Duncan followed with Cleveland’s first back-to-back homers of the season.

CT photo by Bruce Bishop.

GRAFTON TWP. — A rollover accident on state Route 57 near Mennell Road in Grafton Township claimed the life of an elderly man this afternoon.

Rescue squads used air bags to lift the car to remove the man’s body from the wreckage. The silver Chevrolet car had been driving on south 57 and apparently lost control a little past Mennell, where the road curves.

The accident occurred about 1 p.m. The intersection remains shut down.

Only one car was involved in the accident, and the elderly man who died was alone in his car.

According to reports from the scene, the car struck a power pole and flipped back up onto the road on its roof.

First responders couldn’t say for sure when the man died but said he was unresponsive when they arrived.

Troopers aren’t yet releasing the man’s name but said he is a Lorain County resident.

Check back at Chroniclet.com for more on this story as it becomes available.

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