WESTFIELD TWP. — A 41-year-old township man was struck by lightning Tuesday night while inside his residence.

A bolt of lightning reportedly went through a glass door or window while Fred Waters was inside the home, according to Rich Fletcher, the Westfield Township fire chief. Waters home is located at 5355 Kennard Road.

Rescuers from Westfield Township Fire & Rescue arrived at the house at about 8:15 p.m. Tuesday and found Waters alert and oriented, Fletcher said.

The chief said Waters was in his garage when five medical personnel arrived at the scene. The victim was transported to Medina Hospital.

“In this situation you take precautions and treat any injuries,” Fletcher said. “You check vital signs to see if they’re normal and administer oxygen if necessary.”

A Medina Hospital spokeswoman said this morning Waters remains in stable condition.

Contact Steve Grazier at (330) 721-4012 or sgrazier@medina-gazette.com.

CLEVELAND — It was bullpen warfare at its best Tuesday at Progressive Field for the opener of a pivotal series between the top two teams in the Central Division.

And the Indians won the battle.

A marathon night at the ballpark ended with Tigers reliever David Pauley hitting Kosuke Fukudome with a pitch with the bases loaded and one out in the 14th inning, giving the Indians a 3-2 victory.

The game was tied at two for 11 innings before Cleveland finally won it in walk-off fashion.

The win, the Indians’ 12th straight at home over the Tigers, left them trailing first-place Detroit by three games in the division standings.

Neither starting pitcher, the Indians’ Justin Masterson nor Detroit’s Doug Fister, figured in the decision, both departing after a rain delay of two hours and three minutes and the Tigers coming to bat for the third inning.

Both allowed two runs, the Indians getting both of their runs off Fister in the first on a single from Asdrubal Cabrera and a sacrifice fly from Carlos Santana.

Detroit didn’t require a hit to drive in either of its runs off Masterson in the second, with the first three batters reaching then riding home on ground outs.

Both bullpens took over from there.

Starting with left-hander Duane Below, Detroit’s bullpen retired 13 straight (12 from Below) before Santana drew a one-out walk in the seventh. The Indians didn’t get a hit until a leadoff double from pinch hitter Jason Donald in the eighth.

Cleveland relievers were just as stingy, shutting out the Tigers on six hits over the final 12 innings.

With both pens working magic, there weren’t many opportunities, but the Indians blew one after Donald delivered the double in the eighth.

Donald advanced to third on a groundout from Ezequiel Carrera before Acta went to one of his favorite moves — the squeeze play — only to have it backfire.

Though it has worked nearly every time he has employed it this season, Michael Brantley couldn’t reach an outside breaking ball, leaving Donald standing up and tagged out by Detroit catcher Alex Avila.

The Indians got just two more hits after the Donald double, one of them from Travis Hafner that was sandwiched between two walks to load the bases for Fukudome in the 14th.

Fukudome had struck out in his four previous at-bats and appeared headed for a fifth when Pauley got ahead 1-2. But Cleveland’s right fielder was plunked on the left arm, touching off a rare walk-off hit-by-pitch celebration.

It was the first time the Indians won in that fashion since Alex Cole was hit by a pitch to force in the game-winning run on June 11, 1991, vs. Toronto.

A total of 15 pitchers took the mound in a game that began at 7:06 p.m. and ended at 1:52 a.m.

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

CLEVELAND — One of the Indians’ two key injured components, right fielder Shin-Soo Choo, could be back in the lineup by the start of next week, but the prognosis on the other, center fielder Grady Sizemore, isn’t as positive.

Though it had been speculated, Cleveland manager Manny Acta confirmed that Sizemore, on the disabled list with a right knee injury and recovering from abdominal surgery, would not return by the end of the month.

Acta said Sizemore, who has played in 61 games this season after consecutive injury-plagued years, has not participated in any baseball activities but could begin playing catch and swinging a bat by the end of the week.

He would not commit to Sizemore beginning a minor-league rehab assignment in early September, nor to how much the three-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove award winner could contribute if he is able to return.

“Who knows?” Acta said. “Who knows if Choo is going to be major contributor. We we won’t know until these guys are back on the field.”

Choo (broken left thumb) began a rehab assignment Monday at Class A Lake County, where he served as the designated hitter Tuesday night. Acta said Choo would be evaluated in Cleveland today before playing in higher-level games in the minors until his activation.

“Assuming everything works out well and he feels comfortable, I would say a week of rehab games,” Acta said. “It’s still going to be a day-to-day evaluation thing.”

Choo, batting .244 with five home runs and 28 RBIs in 72 games this season, has been sidelined since June 25.

(bullet) Acta said RHP Carlos Carrasco (right elbow inflammation) is expected to miss the next three weeks, two thanks to the injury and another week while serving his six-game suspension.

“The medical staff doesn’t think it’s a long-term thing,” Acta said of Carrasco’s injury.

Tigers talk

The Indians had recent history on their side as they opened a pivotal three-game series against Central Division-leading Detroit, winning 11 straight against the Tigers at Progressive Field dating back to last year.

Cleveland had won four of six games against Detroit this season, including all three at home.

“I would rather be four games up,” Acta said of the Tigers’ lead over the Indians in the division standings. “There’s still a lot of games left. I don’t like to talk about series. I like to talk about today. We’re the ones trailing. We’re the ones that have to close the gap and not allow them to get too far away.

“We saw how tough it is to make a deficit. We held a seven-game lead for almost two months. But I’ve also seen deficits made up pretty quick in this game.”

Bullpen blues

It was not a good road trip for Cleveland’s relief corps, which had a hand in all four losses during a seven-game stint against Boston and Texas.

“It’s the cycle of the season,” Acta said. “They’ve been so good. There’s going to be times that they struggle. We were facing two good teams.”

Cleveland’s pen, a strength of the team for much of the season, posted a 4.54 ERA in July with a 4.87 ERA in August (through Monday).

Minor details

The Indians named Triple-A Columbus outfielder Jerad Head their minor league player of the week for July 31-Aug. 6. Head, a non-drafted free-agent acquisition in 2005, hit .393 (11-for-28) over the span, with five homers and 11 RBIs in six games. He entered Tuesday batting .290 with the team lead in homers (23) and RBIs (63) in 97 games. … Double-A Akron RHP Austin Adams was named Eastern League pitcher of the week for Aug. 1-7, going 2-0 with a 2.31 ERA in two starts over the span. Adams, a fifth-round draft pick in 2009, is 9-8 with a 3.81 ERA in 22 starts for the Aeros.

Roundin’ third

Beginning with Tuesday’s series opener against Detroit, the Indians play 12 straight games and 15 of their next 18 against division opponents. Of their remaining 49 games, 37 are within the division. … The Indians signed local product Brian Ruiz (41st-round draft pick), an outfielder out of Lincoln West High School. Acta met Ruiz at a speaking engagement in Cleveland last year. … Tonight, 7:05, STO/WTAM 1100-AM/WEOL 930-AM. Jimenez (6-9, 4.64) vs. Porcello (11-6, 4.49).

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

CLEVELAND — First, suspended. Now, injured.

It’s been a rough few days for Carlos Carrasco.

The Cleveland Indians placed the starter on the 15-day disabled list Monday with inflammation in his right elbow, temporarily voiding his six-game suspension for throwing at Kansas City’s Billy Butler.

Carrasco was suspended for six games by Major League Baseball on Aug. 1 for throwing at Butler’s head in a July 30 game. The inside fastball didn’t hit Butler, but Carrasco was ejected and later slapped with the six-game ban, which he intended to serve following his last start.

However, after pitching seven innings on Aug. 3 in Boston, Carrasco felt discomfort in his elbow, according to an Indians release.

The right-hander still faces discipline when he’s activated. Carrasco, who is 8-0 with a 4.55 ERA in 21 starts, was on the DL earlier this season with a strained elbow.

The Indians also reinstated third baseman Jack Hannahan from the paternity list. Hannahan was not with the Indians for their three-game weekend series in Texas, staying with his wife for the birth of the couple’s first child.

Hannahan will be available tonight when the Indians open a critical three-game AL Central series with first-place Detroit. Cleveland trails the Tigers by four games.

Carrasco’s injury leaves the Indians without a starter for Saturday’s home game against Minnesota. The most likely candidate to take Carrasco’s spot is left-hander David Huff, who is 1-1 with a 0.51 ERA in three starts for Cleveland. He was sent back to Triple-A Columbus last week to open a roster spot after the Indians acquired Ubaldo Jimenez in a July 31 blockbuster trade from Colorado.

In his last start, Huff pitched five strong innings, allowing just an unearned run against Boston last week.

The right-hander still faces discipline when he’s activated. Carrasco, who is 8-0 with a 4.55 ERA in 21 starts, was on the DL earlier this season with a strained elbow.

The Indians also reinstated third baseman Jack Hannahan from the paternity list. Hannahan was not with the Indians for their three-game weekend series in Texas, staying with his wife for the birth of the couple’s first child.

Hannahan will be available tonight when the Indians open a critical three-game AL Central series with first-place Detroit. Cleveland trails the Tigers by four games.

Carrasco’s injury leaves the Indians without a starter for Saturday’s home game against Minnesota. The most likely candidate to take Carrasco’s spot is left-hander David Huff, who is 1-1 with a 0.51 ERA in three starts for Cleveland. He was sent back to Triple-A Columbus last week to open a roster spot after the Indians acquired Ubaldo Jimenez in a July 31 blockbuster trade from Colorado.

In his last start, Huff pitched five strong innings, allowing just an unearned run against Boston last week.

Tonight

• Who: Cleveland vs. Detroit
• Time: 7:05
• Where: Progressive Field
• Pitchers: Masterson (9-7, 2.63 ERA) vs. Fister (4-12, 3.29)
• TV/radio: SportsTime Ohio; WEOL 930-AM, WTAM 1100-AM