CLEVELAND – An extended stint out of the lineup would affect most hitters. Not Travis Hafner apparently.

After being saddled to the bench for nine straight games during a recent interleague road trip, Hafner, who was hot prior to the trip, picked up where he left off. Through the first two games of the homestand, the designated hitter went 3-for-7 with a pair of doubles, an RBI and two runs.

“I thought after nine days of inactivity that it might take a few days to get his timing down, but that wasn’t the case,” said Cleveland manager Manny Acta. “He’s swung the bat well from the get-go.”

Acta joked with Hafner that the time off actually helped him.

“He said I was well-rested,” Hafner said. “I just laughed.”

Though Hafner was limited to just five pinch-hit appearances (0-for-5) at the National League parks, he stayed sharp by increasing his workload with hitting instructor John Nunnally.

“I was able to do a lot of stuff swing-wise on the road,” Hafner said.

Hafner entered the interleague trip swinging the bat as well as he has all season. He was hitting .344 (11-for-32) with three home runs and seven RBIs in his last 14 games through Tuesday, hitting safely in each of his last eight starts. The hot streak had his season average up to .254 (eight homers, 29 RBIs).

“Hopefully he’ll continue to do that because we need his bat in the middle of our lineup,” Acta said.

Young gun

One of the many things that have impressed the Indians about Carlos Santana thus far is the catcher’s discipline at the plate. He entered Wednesday with 13 walks and just seven strikeouts and rarely swings at a bad pitch.

“He’s got some special attributes,” Acta said of the projected star that entered Wednesday with the sixth-highest OPS (1.160) in the majors since June 11.

Wood’s world

Closer Kerry Wood told reporters that he is working on a new pitch but would not disclose what it was and said he has yet to use it in a game. It was news to Acta.

“I just found that out,” Acta said. “I’m happy with his 95 mph fastball, curveball and changeup.”

Wood was unavailable Wednesday after saving three straight games (in three days) for just the second time in his career.

House call

Renowned hand specialist and orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Thomas Graham, examined Asdrubal Cabrera’s fractured left forearm Wednesday.

“Asdrubal is right on target,” said Acta of the shortstop, who is expected to begin a minor league rehab assignment after the All-Star break.

Graham was also expected to examine infielder Jason Donald, who missed four games with a jammed left wrist, but was back in the lineup Wednesday.

Minor details

Triple-A Columbus outfielders Michael Brantley and Jose Constanza were named to the International League team for the Triple-A All-Star Game against the Pacific Coast League on July 14 in Allentown, Pa. Brantley, who was hitting .310 with three homers, 25 RBIs and 45 runs in 56 games and ranked fifth in the IL with a .384 on-base percentage through Tuesday, was named as a starter. Constanza is a reserve, batting .326 with 18 stolen bases in 20 attempts through Tuesday. … Third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall, outfielder John Drennen and reliever Bryce Stowell were chosen to represent Double-A Akron at the Eastern League All-Star Game, July 14, in Harrisburg, Pa. Chisenhall, who will also participate in the XM All-Star Futures Game, entered Wednesday batting .276 with six homers and 28 RBIs in 56 games. Drennen was hitting .299 with five triples, two homers and 30 RBIs in 63 games through Tuesday, while Stowell had not allowed a run in 20 innings (26 strikeouts) since being promoted from advanced Class A Kinston.   

Roundin’ third

Indians relievers had allowed just 33 of their 144 inherited runners to score (22.9 percent), which ranked first in the American League and second in the majors through Tuesday. … Reliever Rafael Perez entered Wednesday having not allowed an earned run over his last 13 appearances (10 2/3 innings). … Today, 12:05, No television/WTAM 1100-AM/WEOL 930-AM. Masterson (2-7, 5.21) vs. Marcum (7-3, 3.14).

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

CLEVELAND – Aaron Laffey vs. Jesse Litsch.

Not exactly the makings of a pitching duel, but that’s how it played out Wednesday night at Progressive Field.

With both unheralded starters limiting the offensive production, it made for a low-hit and low-scoring affair that Laffey and the Indians got the better of in a 3-1 victory over the Blue Jays.

Laffey allowed just a run on five hits over six innings, while Litsch surrendered two runs on four hits over the same span. Both teams managed just six hits on the night.

“It was a well-pitched ballgame,” said Indians manager Manny Acta, whose team won its fourth straight game to match a season-high winning streak. “Even when (Laffey) fell behind in the count, he made the pitches.”

Laffey, whose wife Jackie gave birth to the couple’s first child (son Braeden), Tuesday, celebrated in style, working a quality start in his second outing back from Triple-A Columbus.

The left-hander didn’t allow a run over the first six innings before departing after surrendering a pair of leadoff singles in the seventh. After allowing a base hit to the first batter he faced, Laffey retired 13 of the next 14 hitters.

He encountered only one jam the entire night, loading the bases with two outs on consecutive walks in the fifth, but pitched out of it by striking out leadoff hitter Fred Lewis to end the inning.   

“I kept telling myself at certain points when I’d fall behind or had runners on base, ‘c’mon, your son was just born, you can’t give in,’” Laffey said. “It’s part of the inspiration. Everything has a new meaning now.”

Laffey was a different pitcher than the one that took the mound Friday in Cincinnati, when he allowed five runs in four innings of a 10-3 loss to the Reds in his first start back from the minors.

“He threw more strikes,” Acta said. “He’s a guy that doesn’t have overpowering stuff, so he can’t afford to pitch behind in the count.”

“I was able to pitch ahead in the count,” said Laffey, who won for the first time as a starter since August of 2008, snapping a string of seven straight losses in the role. “Just getting ahead was a big part.”

It looked as though the Indians would make quick work of Litsch, who entered the night sporting an 0-2 record and 8.78 ERA in three starts this season.

Shin-Soo Choo belted a solo home run two batters into the first inning for the Indians, but they didn’t score off Litsch again until an RBI single from Carlos Santana in the sixth.

Toronto closed to within a run in the seventh before Matt LaPorta gave the Indians some breathing room with a solo homer in the bottom of the inning – his second long ball in two nights.

“That means a lot of things are going right for me and my approach is solid,” LaPorta said.

That left it up to Cleveland’s bullpen, which rode to the rescue once again, holding the power-laden Jays hitless over the final two innings.

Side-armed right-hander Joe Smith disposed of Toronto’s second through four hitters – Alex Gonzalez, Jose Bautista and Vernon Wells – all on ground outs to shortstop Jason Donald in the eighth inning.

With Kerry Wood unavailable after saving three games in three days, the Indians called on Chris Perez to close out the win.

Perez was up to challenge, retiring the side in order and striking out Aaron Hill for the final out. Perez, Cleveland’s primary setup man, filled in earlier this season for Wood, who began the year on the disabled list.

“Honestly, it’s just like the eighth (inning) to me,” Perez said. “Sometimes, the eighth is harder. I just looked at it like it was another outing.”

Perez had to endure one anxious moment when defensive replacement Andy Marte dropped a foul ball at first base that would have ended the game.

“It didn’t hurt, so no worries,” Perez said.

The Indians entered the series with Toronto on the heels of a less-than-fruitful interleague road trip that saw them lose seven of nine games, but they’ve opened the homestand with three straight wins. Cleveland goes for the sweep of the Jays today.  

“There’s so many games in our sport,” Acta said. “You can’t get too high or too low. I like how things are going.”

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

Aaron Laffey allowed just a run on five hits over six innings, helping the Indians to a 3-1 victory over the Blue Jays on Wednesday night at Progressive Field.

It was Cleveland’s fourth straight win, matching its season-high winning streak.

Matt LaPorta homered for the second time in two days.

SHEFFIELD — About 900 people who sacrificed sleep overnight to be the first to see the latest “Twilight” move, “Eclipse,” left the theater disappointed when they didn’t get to see the end due to projector problems.

According to Ryan Yates, manager at Regal Cinemas’ Cobblestone theater, several inches of film misfed through a single projector that was piping the movie into five different theaters.

Moviegoers were given passes to come back and see the move at another time, he said.

That solution doesn’t cut it for Chris St. Peter of Elyria.

She was at the movie with six children — her own, her nieces and a child she baby-sits — ranging in age from 6 to 15.

“The kids waited and waited to see this,” she said. “It’s a big deal for them to stay up that late, and to stay up late to watch it and be disappointed was just awful.”

St. Peter said there were signs of impending technical issues near the beginning of the movie when the color went out for about five seconds.

She said the movie went out about 2:10 a.m. She said showtime was 12:10 a.m., but there were several minutes of previews, so she assumes she missed 15 minutes to a half-hour of the movie.

“It was right before the big fight at end,” she said. “The wolf jumped out and ‘poof.’

Beside being mad she missed out on the movie, St. Peter is upset about how it was handled. She said even though the movie went out at 2:10, she and the kids had to wait until after 3 a.m. to receive their passes.

Commenters on The Chronicle’s Facebook page said theater employees were being rude and screaming at people. Kellie Kinas of North Ridgeville, who said she was in Theater 1 with her daughter, said that wasn’t the case in her theater.

“Employees were not rude at all,” she said. “The movie went out at 2:11, and they came in about 2:45 and said it was going to be five minutes (for the passes) and they were doing the best they can.”

She said employees explained they wouldn’t be able to get the film fixed in a timely fashion, which is why they were giving people the passes to come back.

But St. Peter said she and others plan to call Regal. They want something done, she said, even if they have to take it all the way to the corporate headquarters.

St. Peter estimates she spent about $70 on movie tickets and another $40 on concessions. If she goes again, she explained, she’ll be out another $40 because she’ll have to buy the children all new food from the snack bar.

St. Peter said all 20 theaters at Cobblestone had sold out about 6 p.m. yesterday. She said there were people in her theater who drove from Westlake because that theater was sold out.

Her niece got to the theater about 6:30 p.m. because she was watching “Twilight” and “New Moon” prior to the midnight showing of “Eclipse,” and she called her at 9 p.m. to tell her that the line for the 12:10 showing was already starting to form. By the time she got there, it was wrapped around the building, she said.

“It was a very good movie, but that ruined it,” St. Peter said of missing the ending.

Gates directed all questions about further compensation for moviegoers to his general manager, who will not be in until tomorrow.

So is St. Peter planning to go back?

“Of course,” she said. “Although I am mad at the situation, I really want to see the rest of the movie!”