CLEVELAND — Indians manager Manny Acta had some surprising news prior to Wednesday’s game against Oakland — designated hitter Travis Hafner will play again before the season is complete.

There was strong speculation that Hafner’s year was over after he was placed on the disabled list with a right foot strain and Cleveland traded for Jim Thome to replace him in the lineup. But things changed after an evaluation by team doctors Wednesday.

“He got some encouraging news. I think we’re going to be able to see him again,” Acta said. “We don’t have a timetable yet, but that’s encouraging news to know that he’s going to join our club and be able to play again this year.”

With neither Thome and Hafner able to play on a nightly basis, Acta envisions a platoon at DH.

“Coming from the injury that Hafner’s going to be coming back from, obviously he’s not going to be able to play every single day,” Acta said. “Thome’s in the same situation, so they’ll share duties.

“It’ll give me an advantage now in September. I’ll be able to pinch run for either of them in the seventh now, and then I’ll have whichever didn’t play to bat in the ninth.”

Hafner, who has been on the DL twice this season, is batting .281 with 11 home runs and 49 RBIs in 82 games.

Tradin’ times

The Indians’ last opportunity to trade for a player came to an end at midnight Wednesday. A club that already added Ubaldo Jimenez, Kosuke Fukudome and Thome had not made a move by gametime.

“(General manager) Chris (Antonetti) has continued trying to improve this team the best way possible. I have been a witness to that,” Acta said. “But it is a complicated process.”

Grady gab

Grady Sizemore (right knee) began a rehab assignment Wednesday for Double-A Akron, serving as the designated hitter and going 0-for-3. He is expected to play six innings in center field for the Aeros tonight, but there is still no timetable for his return.

“It all depends on his progress,” Acta said. “That’s why we can’t sit here and say three to four days or whatever. It all depends on how he feels and when he feels he is going to be able to come up here and contribute.”

Brantley bit

Outfielder Michael Brantley underwent surgery on his right hand Wednesday and is expected to make a full recovery.

Brantley was shut down for the season Sunday. He hit .266 with seven homers and 46 RBIs in 114 games.

Finally, Fukudome

After a slow start, Fukudome has settled in to his new surroundings. The outfielder acquired at the trading deadline from the Cubs entered Wednesday batting .320 (24-for-75) with seven doubles, a homer and eight RBIs over his last 19 games.

He was batting .283 in his first 30 games with Cleveland through Tuesday, driving in his 13th run for the Indians with a sacrifice fly in the first inning. He had the same RBI total in 87 games for the Cubs.

“I have to give it to him,” Acta said. “From Day 1, he’s been good in the clubhouse. It takes time to get comfortable with new surroundings and new teammates. He’s give us everything he’s got. He’s done a lot of good things.”

“I think I’m getting used to the team,” Fukudome said through an interpreter. “I still have pitchers I don’t know, but I think I’m able to do some things I want to do at the plate.”

Minor details

Outfielder Trevor Crowe had one of Triple-A Columbus’ two hits Tuesday in a 2-1 loss at Louisville. It was Crowe’s first game with the Clippers after his rehab assignment was transferred from the Arizona League Indians. … As a pinch hitter on his 24th birthday Tuesday, High-A Kinston infielder Tyler Cannon drove in the game-winning run with a single in a 2-1 victory over Frederick. Cannon, a 12th-round draft pick last year, entered Wednesday batting .253 with six homers and 38 RBIs in 85 games.

Roundin’ third

Today is the day that major league rosters can expand to 40 players. … Of the nine players in the Indians’ lineup Wednesday, six of them had zero or one homer on the season. … Cleveland’s game time at Texas on Sept. 14 has been moved from 8:05 p.m. to 7:05 to accommodate ESPN, which will televise the game nationally. It will be blacked out in Cleveland but can be seen locally on STO. … Today, 12:05, MLB.TV/WTAM 1100-AM/WEOL 930-AM. Carmona (6-12, 4.85) vs. Gonzalez (11-11, 3.45).

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

Indians starting pitcher Jeanmar Gomez pitches in the first inning against the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday. (AP photo)

CLEVELAND — The Indians got another quality pitching performance Tuesday night at Progressive Field. And this time they even mixed in some offense.

Another strong effort from Cleveland’s pitching staff was backed by rare run support, with the Indians using the combination to turn back Oakland 6-2 for their fourth win in five games.

Injuries have depleted the Indians’ 25-man roster but not its heart, with a makeshift club still staying alive in the race for the Central Division crown despite long odds.

“We’re battling, that’s the main thing,” said manager Manny Acta, whose team trails the first-place Tigers by 5 1/2 games and the second-place White Sox by a half game. “I feel like we still have a couple streaks in us. We just have to take care of our business.

“The pitching is there. When you have that, you have a chance to win every night.”

Right-hander Jeanmar Gomez gave the Indians more than a chance Tuesday, pitching like a veteran that has been in the rotation all season, not a youngster making his third start of the year.

Gomez was recalled from Triple-A Columbus to start the second game of the series against Oakland and earned the right to make at least another one after allowing an unearned run on six hits over six innings.

Gomez, who went 4-5 with a 4.68 ERA in 11 starts for Cleveland last year, didn’t allow a run over his first four innings before his own error led to one in the fifth. He pitched a scoreless sixth and turned it over to the bullpen, which allowed a run but preserved the win without having to use closer Chris Perez.

“Gomez threw the ball very well for us,” Acta said. “He got into a very good groove. He had very good movement on his fastball. That’s what made him effective last year.

“The young man gave us a lift today.”

Despite being thrust into a pennant race with just a pair of big league outings under his belt this year, Gomez, who went 10-7 with a 2.55 ERA in 21 starts at Columbus, showed no nerves.

He outdueled Oakland starter Trevor Cahill, an All-Star last year, who allowed five runs on seven hits over 5 1/3 innings.

“I don’t feel any pressure,” Gomez said. “I tried to do what I’ve been doing at Triple-A.”

The Indians, who had played four straight one-run games coming in, appeared to be headed in that direction again, leading 2-1 through five innings.

But Cleveland broke it open with a four-run sixth that was powered by a pair of two-run home runs from Carlos Santana and Jack Hannahan.

Along with Kosuke Fukudome, who plated the Indians’ first two runs with a double in the third inning, Santana and Hannahan have been Cleveland’s hottest hitters as of late.

Santana, who homered for the second straight night, is batting .302 (29-for-96) with six homers and 18 RBIs over his last 24 games. Hannahan has hit safely in 11 of his last 13 games, batting .429 (18-for-42) with a homer and 10 RBIs over the stretch.

The offense is expected from Santana, who began the season hitting in the cleanup spot, but not Hannahan — a defensive-minded third baseman with a career batting average of .224 in two seasons prior to this year.

“I’m just doing what the pitcher allows me to do and not trying to do too much,” said Hannahan, who was the only Indian with a multihit game, going 3-for-4.

Every player in Cleveland’s lineup save Shelley Duncan, who was replaced after being hit by a pitch in the sixth, had at least one hit.

Check back for more Tribe coverage.

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

CLEVELAND — As expected, right-hander Jeanmar Gomez was recalled from Triple-A Columbus to start Tuesday night against Oakland. What wasn’t expected was the player he replaced on the 25-man roster.

To clear room for Gomez, first baseman Matt LaPorta was optioned to Columbus, leaving the big league roster for the first time this season.

“We’re in a very tough spot with all the injuries in the infield and the outfield,” said manager Manny Acta, whose club has seven players on the disabled list and is without Shin-Soo Choo (left oblique) for at least two weeks. “First base is the only place we have some depth.”

LaPorta may have been a victim of numbers, but his sagging statistics didn’t help matters. The highly-touted slugger acquired in the CC Sabathia trade with Milwaukee in 2008 is hitting just .238 with 11 home runs and 44 RBIs in 97 games.

“There’s been a lot of inconsistency,” Acta said. “He still shows flashes of the player we envision him to be, but he still needs work on his plate discipline. He’s a guy we project to be a power guy. It just hasn’t happened yet.

“He’s made some strides, but the expectations for a guy like that are higher than that. So far, it’s been a challenge for him.”

LaPorta, the key cog in the Sabathia trade could be feeling the pressure to produce after failing to accomplish as much during his first two seasons in the big leagues with the Indians in 2009-10.

“If you let that affect you, it’s on you,” Acta said. “It’s part of life. Everyone feels some pressure doing whatever they’re doing.”

With LaPorta gone, Carlos Santana is expected to get the majority of playing time at first, while Lou Marson handles the catching duties on a regular basis. Shelley Duncan and Jack Hannahan can also play first in a pinch.

Gomez, 0-2 with a 5.70 ERA in two spot starts for the Indians this year, could finish the season in the rotation if disabled right-hander Josh Tomlin (ligament strain right elbow) is shut down.

Comeback trail

Grady Sizemore (right knee) will begin a minor league rehab assignment tonight at Double-A Akron, serving as the designated hitter for the Aeros. He is expected to play center field for six innings the following night.

The seasons for Cleveland’s top four minor league affiliates end Monday, so if Sizemore needs more rehab work, it will come from one of the playoff qualifiers, most likely, Columbus.

Crowe’s nest

Outfielder Trevor Crowe (right shoulder surgery) had his minor league rehab assignment transferred to Columbus after batting .444 (8-for-18) with two homers and eight RBIs in six games for the Arizona League Indians.

Crowe, who has missed the entire season after undergoing surgery March 30, was expected to start for the Clippers on Tuesday.

Minor details

Columbus manager Mike Sarbaugh was named International League Manager of the Year. The Clippers, who clinched first place in the IL’s West Division last Tuesday, entered Tuesday with the league’s best record (85-53). … Columbus infielders Jason Kipnis and Luis Valbuena were named to the IL’s postseason All-Star team. Kipnis, who is currently on the disabled list for the Indians, hit .280 with 12 homers and 55 RBIs in 92 games for the Clippers. Valbuena was batting .304 with 16 homers and a team-leading 73 RBIs in 107 games through Monday.

Roundin’ third

Closer Chris Perez’s 30 saves through Monday are the most since Joe Borowski saved 45 in 2007. … Entering Tuesday, 13 of the Indians’ last 26 games and four straight had been decided by one run. Cleveland is 5-8 in those games and 23-34 overall in one-run games (17-8 at home). … Jim Thome entered Tuesday with one hit (a homer) in 11 at-bats (four games) since joining the Indians in a trade from the Twins. … Tonight, 7:05, STO/WTAM 1100-AM/WEOL 930-AM. Jimenez (8-10, 4.71) vs. Harden (4-2, 4.55).

Check back for more Tribe coverage.

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

Carlos Santana points to the heavens after hitting a solo homer off Oakland’s Brandon McCarthy in the seventh inning Monday at Progressive Field. It was Santana’s 20th home run of the season. (AP photo)

CLEVELAND – The Indians didn’t generate a lot of offense – surprise, surprise – but they did do enough to get a much-needed win Monday night at Progressive Field.

Entering a game in third place for the first time all season, the Indians mustered a couple of timely hits, then let their pitching do the rest to help them to a 2-1 victory in the opener of a four-game series with Oakland.

Cleveland, which won for just the fourth time in 11 games, remained in third place, a half-game behind the White Sox. But the Indians did gain ground on the first-place Tigers, who they trail by 5½ games in the Central Division standings.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s the first game (of the series),” right fielder Kosuke Fukudome said through an interpreter.

Fukudome delivered the Indians’ first key hit, a two-out RBI double to score the game’s first run in the sixth inning.

“I think we just need to win every single game,” he said. “We can’t worry about what other teams are doing.”

As long as they keep getting pitching performances like they did Monday, the Indians might not have to.

Pitching for the first time in nine days, Indians starter David Huff was a bit rusty, tossing 43 pitches over the first three innings. But the left-hander worked through it to offer up an effective outing, logging six scoreless innings, while allowing just three hits and striking out four.

Huff had runners aboard in each of the first three innings but pitched out of it before finding a groove that saw him retire 10 straight, beginning with the last two outs of the third. He had runners on first and second in the sixth before getting Brandon Allen to ground out to end the inning.

“David started laboring a little bit,” Cleveland manager Manny Acta said. “I didn’t think he was going to go that far. But he righted himself up and he was very aggressive in the zone with his fastball and his cutter.”

Huff, 2-2 with a 2.08 ERA in six games (five starts) admitted to being rusty at the outset, but he continued to show a penchant for working out of jams that hadn’t been on display during the first two years of his career.

“Early, the balls were up and they were fouling them off,” Huff said. “Later on the ball got down and they weren’t fouling it off anymore. They were pounding it into the ground.”

Huff’s effort was backed by another quality performance from Cleveland’s bullpen, which allowed a run in the eighth, but kept the inning from getting any larger after the A’s produced consecutive doubles to start the inning.

Left-hander Tony Sipp, who allowed the RBI double to Jemile Weeks, got the first out on Coco Crisp’s ill-fated sacrifice bunt attempt that did not advance Weeks to third, then got the second out on a drive to the warning track in right field.

Sipp was replaced by Vinnie Pestano, who struck out Oakland cleanup hitter Josh Willingham with Weeks on third.

Closer Chris Perez retired the side in order to get his 30th save of the season in 34 chances. The right-hander struck out the first two batters, then ended the game by getting Kurt Suzuki to pop up.

The Indians matched the A’s with five hits on the night, but they got the biggest one when Carlos Santana clouted a solo home run with one out in the seventh off Oakland starter Brandon McCarthy.

McCarthy probably deserved a better fate, outlasting Huff to pitch eight innings and allow just two runs on five hits while striking out 10.

“We couldn’t do much against McCarthy,” Acta said. “But we got some clutch hits.”

Despite owning just a .242 batting average, Santana has been one of Cleveland’s more productive hitters all year. He is second on the team to All-Star shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera with 20 homers and 64 RBIs, while leading the club in walks (77) and on-base percentage (.350).

Santana has been hot as of late, hitting .304 (28-for-92) with five homers and 16 RBIs over his last 23 games.

“In a way, he hasn’t met people’s expectations,” Acta said of Santana, a highly touted offensive weapon when his first full season in the majors began this year. “But if you’re a person that’s not always looking at batting average, he’s had an impressive year.”

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

TONIGHT

• WHO: Cleveland vs. Oakland
• TIME: 7:05
• WHERE: Progressive Field
• PITCHERS: Gomez (0-2, 5.70 ERA) vs. Cahill (9-12, 4.13)
• TV/RADIO: SportsTime Ohio; WEOL 930-AM, WTAM 1100-AM