CLEVELAND — Pronk is finally starting to flex his mus­cles.

After hitting just four home runs over his first 49 games of the season, Indians designated hitter Travis Hafner has gone deep three times over his last five games.

A solo shot from Hafner to lead off the second inning accounted for the only run Cleveland scored off Nationals phenom Stephen Strasburg in the Indians’ 9-4 loss to Washing­ton on Sunday.

The injury-prone Hafner has remained healthy thus far and he was hitting for average early before an extended slump. But the power from the franchise leader in homers and RBIs by a DH had been vacant until now.

What is Hafner’s explanation for the recent power surge?

“I’ve just been spending a lot of time in the cage making some adjustments swing-wise,” said Hafner, who is batting .247 with seven homers and 25 RBIs. “I’m just trying to be shorter to the ball, and it’s made a big difference.”

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Fabulous Fausto

It’s beginning to look a lot like 2007 for Fausto Carmona.

Carmona, who finished fourth in American League Cy Young voting that year, is as close to that form as he’s been in the last three seasons, with a 5-5 record and 3.23 ERA through 13 starts.

Carmona’s ERA ranked 13th in the AL through Saturday as the right-hander had limited the opposition to three runs or fewer in 11 of his outings.

The complete game Carmona tossed Saturday against the Nationals was his second of the season and the Indians’ sixth, which ranked third in the majors through Saturday, behind the seven thrown by the Angels and Phillies.

Ragged reliever

Tony Sipp’s struggles continued in earnest Sunday. The left-hander allowed three runs on five hits in his only inning of work in the eighth — the hits coming to the first five batters he faced, including a two-run homer to unheralded Roger Bernadino.

Sipp (0-2, 7.48 ERA) allowed just three earned runs in his first 21 appearances of the season, but has surrendered 15 earned runs in seven games (2 1 / 3 innings) since. “I think it’s command,” said manager Manny Acta. “I think the pitches are getting too much of the plate. When he falls behind, he’s not making pitches.”

Next up

The Indians are off today before hosting the Mets in another interleague series that begins Tuesday night at 7:05.

Justin Masterson (2-5, 4.74 ERA) opens the set for Cleveland, opposing LHP Johan Santana (4-3, 2.96).

Mitch Talbot (7-4, 3.59) goes for the Indians on Wednesday (7:05 p.m.) against LHP Jonathan Niese (3-2, 3.61), while Jake Westbrook (4-3, 4.62) starts the series finale Thursday (7:05 p.m.), the Mets countering with RHP R.A. Dickey (4-0, 2.78).

Minor detail

Double-A Akron beat Portland 12-5 Saturday to set a franchise record with its 12th straight win. The Aeros got three hits apiece from Lonnie Chisenhall, John Drennen and Carlos Rivero in the win.

Roundin’ third

• Shin-Soo Choo extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a two-run single in his final at-bat in the ninth inning. He is batting .364 (16-for-44) with six RBIs over the span.
• ◾The Indians signed two more picks from the recent First Year Player Draft, agreeing to terms with right-handed pitcher Jordan Cooper (ninth round) and catcher Diego Seastruck (14th round). Cooper, a Wichita State product, was the Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year this season after going 10-3 with a 2.01 ERA for the Shockers. Seastruck hit .369 with nine homers and 52 RBIs for Rice University this season.

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

CLEVELAND – Stephen Strasburg wasn’t as dominant as he was in his major league debut, but the Nationals right-handed phenom was still plenty good enough to beat the Indians in his second career start.

Despite control issues that saw him walk five batters Strasburg was still effective, helping Washington past Cleveland, 9-4, in front of 32,876 fans at Progressive Field on Sunday – most of whom were in the park to catch baseball’s latest craze.

Strasburg wasn’t around long — 5 1/3 innings thanks to a mounting pitch count — but he set the tone early and left a lasting impression by allowing just a run on two hits, while striking out eight.       

“We couldn’t get much going offensively against Strasburg,” said Indians manager Manny Acta, whose club’s season-long winning streak was snapped at four games. “He showed that power arm and he had an impressive breaking ball. The breaking ball was what we were impressed by.

“That’s what makes him so good. I don’t think anyone in this league can’t handle a fastball in the upper-90s. But the fact that he has the breaking ball that he has and control of it, that’s what makes him so effective. He’s going to be good for a long time if he stays healthy.”

With his fastball clocking in consistently at 99-100 mph and a wicked 83-85 mph breaking ball, Strausburg retired 10 of the first 11 hitters he faced, striking out five of them.

The only hit was a big one, with Travis Hafner accounting for the lone run off the 21-year-old right-hander, lining a 1-0 offering over the right-field wall to tie the game at one in the second inning.

The other hit Strasburg yielded was a bloop single to Carlos Santana.

“He’s obviously got really good stuff,” said Hafner, who was the only Cleveland player to reach base in all of his at-bats off Strasburg, walking twice after his homer. “He was throwing 100 (mph) with a good breaking ball. He’s really good.”

“He’s got two starts in the big leagues and he held us to two hits,” said Cleveland first baseman Russell Branyan, who struck out in both of his at-bats against Strasburg. “We got a glimpse of what he’s capable of doing.”

Strasburg didn’t walk a batter in his big league debut against the Pirates on Tuesday, but he began struggling with control in the fourth, an inning in which he walked a pair but still was able to strike out the side.

A mound issue most likely played a part in Strasburg’s wild side. The pitcher had the grounds crew out to repair the mound on two occasions during his outing.

The control issues hastened his departure, Strasburg leaving with the bases loaded and one out in the sixth after allowing the blooper to Santana, followed by consecutive walks. He departed with the Nationals in front 6-1.

Indians starter David Huff kept the Indians in the game over the first five innings, allowing two runs on four hits – one a solo homer to Adam Dunn to lead off the fourth.

But the left-hander fell apart in the sixth, allowing the Nats to take control with four runs in the inning. Huff retired the first two batters he faced in the sixth before allowing the next four to reach base, leaving after surrendering six runs on six hits over 5 2/3 innings.  

“I thought David threw the ball very well until that last inning,” said Acta. “He let that inning get away from him with two outs. I think he was excited and pumped up to be competing. He was very good for five innings.”

“I think I was rushing a little bit,” Huff said of the sixth-inning collapse. “The ball was up and they took advantage.”

Huff (2-8, 5.82 ERA) said his counterpart played no part in his approach to his 12^th start of the season.

“It was just another game,” Huff said. “The game doesn’t change just because of who you’re pitching against.

“Once every blue moon, a guy like that comes along. It’s good for the game. I’m happy for him. Good for him.”

And bad for the Indians.

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

Stephen Strasburg wasn’t as dominant as he was in his major league debut but the right-handed phenom was still on the winning end in the Indians’ 9-4 loss to the Nationals.

Strasburg allowed just a run on two hits over 5 1/3 innings, helping the Nats avoid the series sweep.

The loss snapped a season-long four-game winning streak for the Indians.

CLEVELAND – It’s been an all-around disappointing season for the Indians, who are in last place in the Central Division and all but out of contention, and we haven’t even made it to the All-Star break yet.

They have struggled at the plate, where they are 12th in the American League in batting (.247) and runs (4.3 average) through Friday, and on the mound, where they rank 11th in the AL with a 4.58 ERA. At times they look more like a Triple-A team than a big league club that is only three seasons removed from nearly making it to the World Series.

One of the more disappointing aspects of the Tribe’s trials and one that should be more than alarming to a team supposedly building for the future is the lack of production from the wealth of young players who have littered the lineup this season.

With plenty of opportunities for guys the Indians were hoping would help comprise their core group moving forward, all have fallen well short of expectations, many of them proving they weren’t worthy of a big league roster spot.

• Matt LaPorta, outfielder/first baseman: The key cog in the CC Sabathia trade with Milwaukee in 2008 was billed as a rising power-hitting star who would undoubtedly fill one of the spots in the middle of the order at some point. What the Indians have seen hasn’t resembled anything close to that. LaPorta has struggled to adapt to big league pitching, and as a result, was recently demoted to Triple-A Columbus. He’s been able to produce at the highest level in the minor leagues, hitting five homers just since he was sent down, but the Indians were counting on much more.

•  Michael Brantley, outfielder: Also part of the Sabathia trade, Brantley has a big league pedigree with his father, Mickey, playing three seasons in the majors, but he didn’t show big league ability after opening the year as the Indians’ starting left fielder. Not long into that stint, Brantley was supplanted by Austin Kearns and shuffled back to Columbus, where he hit just .267 in 116 games last year. Brantley appears to be a solid overall player but his stock has fallen substantially.

•  Lou Marson, catcher: Marson, who was acquired from the Phillies in the Cliff Lee trade last year, was sent down Friday to clear the way for Carlos Santana, the top prospect in the organization. While in Cleveland, Marson was one of the AL’s most efficient at throwing out would-be base stealers, but he struggled early with blocking balls and never showed signs of emerging from a season-long slump that saw him bat just .191 in 45 games. Marson may get another shot if the Indians discover that Santana is better suited at another position, but right now, he looks like nothing more than a serviceable backup.

•  Jason Donald, shortstop/second baseman: Also part of the Phillies deal for Lee, Donald appears to be a top-shelf defender as he fills in for injured Asdrubal Cabrera at shortstop, but he, too, hasn’t yet shown the ability to hit on the big league level – .237 batting average in 23 games through Friday. If Donald, a career .285 hitter in the minors, can’t produce at the plate in the big leagues, he’s nothing more than an above-average utility infielder at best. He still has time to prove he can swing the bat, but he has done just the opposite out of the gate.

• Luis Valbuena, second baseman: Though he wasn’t netted in a big-name trade (acquired from Seattle for Franklin Gutierrez in 2008), the Indians thought they had their second baseman of the future when Valbuena put up respectable numbers once arriving in Cleveland early last season. Manager Manny Acta thought enough of Valbuena to name him the starter at second shortly into spring training despite the presence of veteran Mark Grudzielanek in camp. The slumping Valbuena lost time to Grudzielanek early in the season, but the veteran was recently released and the job is Valbuena’s once again. He’s had some shoddy moments in the field, and though Acta says he has shown signs of improving at the plate, it’s been difficult to see as Valbuena is batting just .172 in 42 games through Friday.

The Indians don’t need all of their young players to morph into stars, but some of them had better start showing they have big league ability or it’s not going to be much of a future at all.

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