The Indians avoided the three-game sweep from the Rockies on Wednesday night at Progressive Field, winning 4-3.

A two-run home run from Travis Hafner in the sixth wound up providing the game-winning runs.

Cleveland’s bullpen struck out six of the eight batters it faced after coming on for starter Josh Tomlin in the seventh.

CLEVELAND — Though the Indians have been pushing shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera to represent them in the All-Star Game (July 12 in Arizona), manager Manny Acta thinks there is another worthy player on the roster.

“Can you pitch any better in the closer role?” Acta said of right-hander Chris Perez, who entered Wednesday with a 2-3 record and 2.63 ERA in 30 games, while converting 17 of his 18 save opportunities. “He’s been fantastic. I know a lot of our guys don’t have names, but if you look at his numbers, he can help the American League club.”

Perez took the loss Tuesday night, allowing his first home run since June 27 of last year — a span of 62 games and 60 1/3 innings without surrendering a long ball — but has been the picture of consistency since assuming the closer role on a fulltime basis last season.

Boston’s Matt Albers (69 1/3) and San Diego’s Heath Bell (66 1/3) are the only two pitchers in the majors that worked more innings without allowing a homer over the span.

Through Tuesday, Perez’s 17 saves ranked third in the American League behind Seattle’s Brandon League (20) and New York’s Mariano Rivera (18).

Big League Choo

Season-long slumper Shin-Soo Choo entered Wednesday batting .375 (9-for-24) with five RBIs over his last seven games.

Acta thinks it is a sign that Choo is beginning to break out of his extended funk.

“He’s coming,” Acta said. “He’s had some good at-bats over the last week or so and he’s pulling the ball with authority. He looks more relaxed to me.”

Acta believes Choo has put his DUI arrest behind him, something that the right fielder admitted was taxing him mentally.

“It doesn’t go away overnight. It takes time,” Acta said. “I think he’s had good support from his teammates, and I think it’s going away.”

Marson’s moment

According to Acta, Lou Marson will be behind the plate on a regular basis during the Indians’ upcoming interleague road swing, while Carlos Santana plays first base.

The Indians won’t miss anything defensively, but Marson is still struggling to find his way offensively, batting .235 with seven RBIs in 26 games.

“This is a good opportunity to play Lou more,” Acta said. “This is a guy we see as an every day catcher. We don’t see Lou as just a backup.

“At the end of the day, we all know that Lou has to develop as a hitter to be an every day catcher in the American League.”

Next up

The Indians begin a stretch of nine consecutive interleague games on the road with a three-game series against defending world champion San Francisco that begins Friday at 10:15 p.m.

Carlos Carrasco (7-3, 3.87 ERA) opens the set, opposing LHP Jonathan Sanchez (4-5, 3.71), while Justin Masterson (5-5, 3.18) goes for Cleveland on Saturday (4:11 p.m.) against RHP Matt Cain (6-4, 3.44).

Fausto Carmona (4-9, 6.17) starts the series finale Sunday (8:09 p.m.), while the Giants counter with LHP Madison Baumgarner (3-8, 3.21).

Minor details

Triple-A Columbus third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall was activated from the disabled list after a bout with concussion symptoms. Cleveland’s top prospect was in the lineup Wednesday, entering the day batting .250 with five homers and 30 RBIs in 60 games. … Clippers RHP Zach McAllister became the second pitcher in the International League to record his eighth win Tuesday, allowing one earned run on two hits, while striking out six over seven innings of a 4-3 victory over Toledo. McAllister (8-2, 2.82 ERA), acquired from the Yankees for Austin Kearns last year, has allowed two earned runs or fewer in nine of his 13 starts.

Roundin’ third

Travis Hafner had reached base safely in 21 straight games through Tuesday, hitting safely in eight straight and driving in at least a run in six of his last seven games. … Reliever Joe Smith entered Wednesday without allowing an earned run over his last 16 appearances (16 innings).

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

WASHINGTON — The financially troubled Postal Service is suspending its employer contribution to the Federal Employee Retirement System.

The agency said Wednesday it is acting to conserve cash as it continues to lose money. It was $8 billion in the red last year because of the combined effects of the recession and the switch of much mail business to the Internet. It faces the possibility of running short of money by the end of this fiscal year in September.

“This move underscores the need for Congress to make bold, quick and substantive reforms to the Postal Service. The USPS is hanging by a thread, along with 8 million private sector jobs that depend on the mail,” said Art Sackler, coordinator for the Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service, a group representing the private sector mailing industry.

The post office said it has informed the Office of Personnel Management that the $115 million FERS payment made every two weeks will be suspended effective Friday. The action is expected to free about $800 million in the current fiscal year. The post office’s FERS account currently has a surplus of $6.9 billion, the agency said.

“We will continue to transmit to OPM employees’ contributions to FERS and also will continue to transmit employer automatic and matching contributions and employee contributions to the Thrift Savings Plan,” said Anthony Vegliante, chief human resources officer for the post office.

Over the last four years the Postal Service has cut its staff by 110,000 and reduced costs by $12 billion. The agency has also proposed eliminating delivery on Saturdays to save money and is working on closing small post offices and consolidating sorting and other operations.

The post office, unlike other federal agencies, is also required to make an annual payment of more than $5 billion as an advance contribution to future retiree medical costs.

ELYRIA — The Lorain County commissioners will hold three public meetings next month to discuss whether or not to ask voters to approve a sales tax hike in November.

The meetings will be held at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on July 13 and 10 a.m. on July 20.

The increase of the county’s 6.25 percent sales tax — the second lowest in the state — could come in a variety of forms, the commissioners said.
The increase could be for .25 percent or .5 percent and would be set aside solely to support the county’s general fund, similar to what the commissioners imposed two years ago that was ultimately rejected by voters.

Commissioner Tom Williams suggested increasing the sales tax by 0.5 percent while at the same time decreasing what property owners pay in property taxes. The reduction would come from what is known as inside millage, which is a property tax that voters have no say in.

Any sales tax increase would be temporary, according to the options the commissioners are considering. The original options were for five years, but Williams suggested another option of three years.

The county has struggled with dwindling revenue in recent years and the commissioners have made steep cuts, that included layoffs, to deal with their budget woes. Commissioner Ted Kalo said about half of the county’s estimated $52 million budget can’t be cut at the present time, either because of court orders, state law or the commissioners’ own commitment to avoid cuts to safety forces.

County Budget Director Lisa Hobart estimated the county’s budget deficit will be $6.2 million next year without an increase in revenue.

See Thursday’s Chronicle for more on this story.