According to ESPN.com, Mike Brown has been fired as coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers after five seasons.

Brown, who led the Cavaliers to the best record in the NBA the past two regular seasons only to be upset by the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference finals two years ago and in the semifinals by the Boston Celtics this season, had one year left on his contract.

ESPN.com reported that “a source close to the head coach told ESPN The Magazine’s Ric Bucher” that Brown had been fired.

If Brown has been let go, he’ll leave the Cavs with a .663 winning percentage (272-138), the best in team history, and with a franchise-tying-best five trips to the postseason. Lenny Wilkens also took the Cavs to the postseason five times.

Brown was named NBA Coach of the Year following the 2008-2009 season.

Finding a replacement could be difficult since the team has no idea whether LeBron James, the two-time reigning league MVP, will be returning to the club or heading elsewhere. James is expected to file for free agency July 1.

It was also believed Brown had to be fired before midnight Sunday or be paid his full $4.5 million salary for next season.

The Indians avoided their first-ever sweep from the Reds at Jacobs/Progressive Field, turning back Cincinnati, 4-3, Sunday.

Kerry Wood pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his first save of the season.

David Huff got the win for the Indians, allowing three runs on six hits over six innings.

CLEVELAND – It was an all-around sorry effort from an all-around sorry team Saturday night at Progressive Field.

Getting little pitching, little offense and little defense, the Indians extended their big-time losing streak to six games with a 6-4 loss to the Reds in front of a boisterous crowd of 25,531 fans – many of whom were there to watch contending Cincinnati or the postgame fireworks display.

Cleveland, a season-high 11 games under .500 and a season-high 10 games out of first place in the Central Division, rallied for two runs in the ninth inning, but it was far too little and late.

“We put ourselves in too big of a hole over the first few innings,” said manager Manny Acta, whose team managed just two runs on four hits over the first seven innings. “Fausto (Carmona) had trouble keeping the ball down and those hitters made him pay. We didn’t play very good defense behind him, either.

“The way we’re playing right now, we need to play pretty close to perfect baseball.”

Not even close.

Carmona, a highlight for most of the season, was a lowlight on this occasion, allowing five runs (three earned) on seven hits in what was his worst performance of the year.

The right-hander allowed two runs in the opening inning, then when it appeared he had worked his way into a groove, surrendered two more in the fourth on a home run to Laynce Nix that put Cincinnati in front 4-0.

“I had a little trouble with location and I was up a little bit today,” said Carmona, whose two-seam fastball had little sink against a talented Reds lineup that has scored 13 runs over the first two games of the Battle of Ohio series. “I think the trouble for me was missing that first pitch for a strike.”

Carmona’s defense didn’t help him any, committing three errors, all of which contributed to runs.

Not surprisingly, Reds starter Johnny Cueto had a much easier time handling Cleveland hitters.

The right-hander shut out the Indians on three hits over the first five innings before allowing his only runs on a two-run home run from Travis Hafner, who went deep for just the fourth time in 36 games.

Cleveland’s uprising in the ninth inning served only to delay the inevitable.

The Indians loaded the bases and Trevor Crowe came through with a two-run single to left-center, leaving runners on first and third with one out.

Cleveland had the right men at the plate to reverse the outcome in Shin-Soo Choo and Austin Kearns, two of its hottest hitters. But Choo took a called third strike after fouling off a number of 2-2 and 3-2 pitches from closer Francisco Cordero, and Kearns flied out to left on the first pitch to end the game.

Choo thought he had drawn a walk before home plate umpire Angel Campos rung him up.

“It was pretty close but it was a strike. We saw it on video,” Acta said. “That’s what we wanted, our best hitter at the plate. We got it, but Francisco made the pitch and got him.”

Not that anybody thinks the Indians are division title contenders at this point in the season, but since realignment in 1994, less than 10 percent of teams have overcome a 10-game deficit to win the division.

Cincinnati goes for the sweep today, which would improve the Reds’ record against the Indians to 12-3 since 2008. The Reds have won 11 of their last 14 games.

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

For the past three weeks, I’ve gone to the park and written catcher Lou Marson’s little name into my little scorebook and wondered why it wasn’t Carlos Santana’s big name instead.

The Indians are sinking fast in the Central Division – 10 games out of first place  – and have called up a plethora of players from Triple-A Columbus including Trevor Crowe, Jason Donald and Shelley Duncan, yet they are reluctant to promote the top prospect in the organization?

While it’s true that Crowe and Donald were brought aboard to replace injured center fielder Grady Sizemore and shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, that’s no excuse for not bringing Santana up by now.

What’s the point?

Manager Manny Acta all but said that, though the Indians are obviously trying to win every game, they are playing for the future with less than lofty expectations for this season.

Few, if any clear-thinking individuals see this gang of Dolan’s Discounts doing anything outside of embarrassing themselves further. What do the Indians have to lose by bringing up the 25-year-old Santana for his major league debut?

Santana didn’t make the club out of spring training because the Indians wanted him to spend some time at Triple-A for the first time in his career. He’s been in Columbus for moe than a month and has looked far from out of place, batting .314 through Friday with a team-leading nine home runs and 39 RBIs in 41 games.

That’s more than enough time for some Triple-A seasoning, so what’s with the delay?

It’s unlikely that Santana would come aboard and carry Cleveland’s sagging offense in his first big league stint, but the power-stacked switch hitter might be able to breathe some life into an offense that has been comatose all season long.

It’s a safe bet that he’s going to bring more to the offensive table than Marson, who carries a .209 batting average with no homers and one RBI in 30 games.

There was speculation that when the Indians recently promoted Duncan rather than Michael Brantley, they were trying to delay Brantley from becoming arbitration- eligible. They could be taking the same approach with Santana, which reeks of Team Dolan and its penny-pinching ways.

Players become arbitration- eligible after three years of big league service, but some deemed “Super 2″ players (determined by the amount of time they have spent on a big league roster, the top 17 percent qualifying) can become eligible after two-plus years.

If the Indians are worried about that, they are looking way too far ahead. Who knows what type of salary Santana will command when he becomes arbitration-eligible anyway?

Using that approach, it would seem that the only players the Indians want on their roster right now are veterans and younger players that they don’t view as potential stars – in other words, stiffs.

I can live with the Indians starting Santana out at Columbus, but it doesn’t make any sense to keep him there any longer, not just to save a few bucks that they don’t know if they will have to spend anyway.

At the very least, give the masochistic fans who show up regularly at Progressive Field and spend their hard-earned money a reason to watch this team.

Contact Chris Assenheimer

at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.