CLEVELAND — Contending has come sooner than expected, which means the time is now for the Indians, with team president Mark Shapiro practically guaranteeing a trade from his club sometime before the July 31 deadline.

Despite being picked by few to finish higher than fourth in the Central Division, the low-budget Indians entered Friday trailing Detroit by a half-game in the standings and actively searching for offensive assistance.

“We, philosophically, clearly want to take advantage of this opportunity we have (to win the division),” Shapiro said in a radio interview with WTAM 1100-AM on Friday. “I don’t see a trade where financial obligations are going to be an obstacle.”

Money is often an object for the Indians, but according to general manager Chris Antonetti, ownership has signed off on exploring potential trade opportunities that will improve the club significantly.

Though the Indians could use a starting pitcher, their most glaring need is at the plate, where an inconsistent offense has been depleted by injuries to key projected contributors, Shin-Soo Choo and Grady Sizemore.

“If we had (Choo) and Grady both out there with these guys, we’d have a heck of a lineup,” Shapiro said. “Now, it’s up to us to fill in some gaps to allow us to be in position in September when they’ll be back.”

“It’s not a secret that we need a middle-of-the-order bat,” manager Manny Acta said. “That’s what we’re looking for.”

The Indians’ biggest concern is that those types of players — i.e. Carlos Beltran — will likely come at an expense to their prospect list, a strong one that contains the likes of first-round draft picks Drew Pomeranz, Alex White and Lonnie Chisenhall, as well as second-rounder, Jason Kipnis, who was promoted from Triple-A Columbus on Friday.

In and out

Outfielder Michael Brantley (heat exhaustion) was back in the lineup after a two-game absence, while outfielder Travis Buck, who missed Wednesday’s game, was also available after being hit on the head by a pitch Tuesday.

Carlos Santana, who is hitless in his last eight at-bats, got the day off.

Comeback trail

White (right finger surgery) threw a bullpen session Friday at Progressive Field, his first since sustaining the injury. Depending on how he felt today, White was tentatively scheduled to pitch a simulated game Monday.

White, the Indians’ first-round draft choice (13th overall) in 2009, was injured three starts into his debut season — 1-0, 3.60 ERA — but the Indians are optimistic he will return this year.

Masterful Masterson

Justin Masterson is controlling what he can, posting a 3-2 record and 1.75 ERA over his last nine games (eight starts). The ERA is the third-lowest in the American League since June 8, with his season ERA of 2.64 ranking seventh in the AL.

Unfortunately, Masterson (8-6, 2.64) has gotten little run support, with the Indians scoring two runs or fewer in nine of his 20 starts. Cleveland has scored one run or been shut out in six of his outings.

Minor details

Columbus’ Jason Donald entered Friday batting .488 (21-for-43) two homers and eight RBIs over his last 12 games. Donald was hitting .336 with four homers and 15 RBIs in 38 games for the Clippers through Thursday. … Beau Mills, Cleveland’s first-round draft pick (13th overall) in 2007, was promoted to Columbus. He hit .300 with 11 homers and 49 RBIs in 61 games for Double-A Akron.

Roundin’ third

Travis Hafner played in the 1,00th game of his career Friday night, his 977th as an Indian. … Starting Friday, 44 of the Indians’ remaining 65 games (68 percent) are against division opponents — Chicago (13), Detroit (12) Kansas City (9) and Minnesota (10). … Recording artist Drake threw out the ceremonial first pitch. … Tonight, 7:05, STO/WTAM 1100-AM/WEOL 930-AM. Huff (1-0, 0.00) vs. Jackson (6-7, 3.97).

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

CLEVELAND — Grady Sizemore believes he can still help the Cleveland Indians this season after having abdominal surgery.

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Sizemore

The three-time All-Star outfielder had a 20-minute hernia operation performed Thursday in Philadelphia by Dr. William Meyers. Sizemore, who is expected to miss four-to-six weeks, went on the disabled list Monday after tweaking his right knee while running out a double in Baltimore on Sunday. It aggravated a bone bruise in the knee sustained while sliding into second base May 10.

He also sustained the abdominal problem on that play two months ago and went on the disabled list. When the knee progressed, the 28-year-old decided to return to the lineup and tried to play through the abdominal discomfort.

“The injury, which resulted in today’s surgery, has been bothering me since the slide in May,” Sizemore said in a statement released by the team. “Knowing the two areas are related and also learning my knee condition is not serious gives me peace of mind going forward that I can finish the season healthy and help contribute to an exciting pennant chase.”

Sizemore has played only 61 games this year, and is batting .237. He has 10 homers, 29 RBIs and no stolen bases. Leading up to the injury, he hit .400 (8-for-20) with two homers, two doubles and four RBIs in his last six games.

Cleveland has been hit hard by injuries, but entered Thursday tied for the AL Central lead with Detroit.

Right fielder Shin-Soo Choo is sidelined by a broken left thumb. Designated hitter Travis Hafner, opening-day starter Fausto Carmona, first baseman Matt LaPorta and others have also been on the disabled list.

Sizemore, who averaged 27 homers, 29 steals and 116 runs from 2005 thru 2008, has spent much of the past three years on the DL. He played hurt in 2009, but after 106 games, he finally had an operation on his left elbow in September. That was followed a few days later by abdominal surgery from Dr. Meyers.

Sizemore played only 33 games a year ago before hurting his left knee — also sliding into second in Baltimore. He had microfracture surgery and began this season on the DL as he continued to recover.

Indians trainer Lonnie Soloff said Sizemore should begin rehabilitation today.

“His prognosis is good,” Soloff said. “We are cautiously optimistic that he will return to full baseball activities in four to six weeks. He should walk as much as a mile starting tomorrow.”

Soloff said that Sizemore’s left knee has held up well despite all the stress put on his body by the other injuries. He also said the two abdominal surgeries are unrelated.

The trainer did say that Sizemore’s all-out style of play leaves him susceptible to injuries, but that it may not be a good idea to tell him to cut down on his hustling.

“Grady plays the game very aggressively and to ask him to change is not easy,” Soloff said. “He’s a unique player. He knows one way, to go all-out all the time.”

LORAIN — Moises Velez’s extensive criminal history has police pursuing multiple leads in the search for his killer.

Mourners gathered outside Southerners Place in Lorain where Moises Velez was shot and killed late Wednesday. (CT photo by Chuck Humel.)

Velez

“His history makes it troublesome, because there’s so many scenarios that we’ve got to narrow down,” police spokesman Lt. Mark Carpentiere said Thursday. “Sometimes these things fall together really quickly and sometimes they take time.”

Velez, 22, was shot in the head around 10:20 p.m. Wednesday outside Southerners Place at 2926 Pearl Ave. The killing came about four months after Velez — who had numerous convictions, including resisting arrest, theft and possession of marijuana — was charged with felonious assault March 20.

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Velez was accused of shooting 22-year-old Lorain resident Christian McAfee in the hand near Vic’s Nightclub in downtown Elyria after a fight at the bar. Police said they found a .44-caliber pistol in the Lincoln Navigator that Velez was driving when he was stopped shortly after the shooting.

Carpentiere said no gun was found on Velez after he was killed, but Velez’s cousin Juan Maldonado said Velez told him he had been carrying a pistol the last few weeks because he feared for his life.

Jose Torres, Velez’s stepfather, said early Friday that his stepson was killed outside Southerners while intervening in a fight between friends.

Violence at or around Southerners is common. Between July 25, 2009, and Wednesday, police were called to the south side bar 83 times, according to department records. Calls included numerous arguments, fights and reports of shots fired, including a incident on June 22 of last year in which the bar window was shot out.

“The bar’s got a very long history of being a place we have to frequent,” said Carpentiere, a Lorain officer since 1990.

Jimmy Sanchez, who said he has been managing the bar since December, said when customers cause problems, they are told to leave.

“Outside is not our problem,” Sanchez said.

Despite his criminal history, Torres said Velez was a loyal, outgoing and protective and was only defending himself in the Vic’s incident. Torres said Velez had talked recently about returning to automotive school after leaving due to money problems.

“He was a good kid,” Torres said. “He was always trying to make you feel good, even in the bad moments.”

Around 12:30 a.m. today about 15 of Velez’s friends and family stood outside a makeshift candlelight vigil on the sidewalk outside Southerners.

“You should’ve called me,” Ruth Kelly,Velez’s grief-stricken mother said as she stared at a picture of her son on a T-shirt. “I love you.”

Contact Evan Goodenow at 329-7129 or egoodenow@chroniclet.com.

ELYRIA TWP. — They had a blast, two actually, but the blown electrical transformers firefighters dealt with in scorching heat Thursday were anything but fun.

Following explosions at an Elyria Township substation, power was off to about 4,500 customers for about five hours until workers restored it about 10 p.m. (CT photo by Chuck Humel.)

The blown units at the Ohio Edison substation at 42390 Griswold Road at 5:07 p.m. cut electricity to about 4,500 customers, according to Edison spokesman Joe Faga. They also rattled two firefighters and two Edison workers who were in the substation about 20 feet from the blasts.

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Fire Chief Russ Scarbrough said a 138,000-volt lightning arrestor failed, causing the explosions, which caused no injuries. He said the explosions sounded like a bomb and noted that the porcelain material the equipment is made of could’ve acted like shrapnel.

“There was no indication it was going to fail, just boom, it went,” Scarborough said. “It could’ve been bad, real bad. It’s just pure luck nobody got hurt.”

Firefighters were called by company workers at 3:16 p.m. to cool the transformers as a precautionary measure, Scarbrough said. They were greeted by 101-degree heat and drained their 1,000-gallon pumper truck within four minutes.

Tankers from the Amherst, Carlisle Township and South Amherst fire departments were then brought in. Scarbrough said firefighters poured another 5,000 or 6,000 gallons of water on the transformers before the explosion.

Faga said the outage affected parts of Amherst Township, Elyria Township and Lorain and electricity was restored to all customers by 10 p.m. Faga, an Edison employee since 1999, said Thursday was the first time firefighters were summoned to cool the transformers.

However, resident Tom Miller said the explosions and outages aren’t a first. Miller, who said he has lived down the street from the substation since 1970, said explosions have occurred about four or five times in extremely hot weather and they rattled the windows of his house.

“They’re just like a bomb,” said Miller, 67. “And then everything in the house shuts down.”

Miller, who said his house is too old to have air conditioning, said people need to conserve power in hot weather to prevent electrical overloads. He said when firefighters cool the transformers using neighborhood hydrants, water pressure in his house turns low and water turns brown.

“The first thing we usually do is take a clear glass and check the water,” Miller said as he hosed down his front yard. “It looks like chocolate milk.”

Besides inconveniencing residents, the outages cut electricity to some area traffic lights and caused at least one accident.

Elyria resident Miranda Austin, 28, said she was turning left from Murray Ridge Road onto state Route 113 east at 5:30 p.m. when she was struck by a westbound car. The accident knocked the front bumper off her car and caused extensive front end damage.

“I knew the lights were out when I crossed the other intersection,” a frustrated Austin said as she stood on the shoulder of the road by her battered car. “I was the driver who actually paid attention to the lights being out.”

Temperatures are expected to reach highs in the 90s today, Saturday and Sunday, according to the National Weather Service and Faga advised customers to conserve energy. However, Faga said the outage was not due to overuse.

“That piece of equipment would’ve failed regardless,” he said.

Contact Evan Goodenow at 329-7129 or egoodenow@chroniclet.com.