Garrett Mitchell appears to be like any other 11-year-old boy. He’s a wrestler and a football player. Video games are his life.

There is one thing, however, that sets him apart from other boys his age. Mitchell is a published author.

Garrett, of Elyria, was born with a cleft lip and has undergone at least 10 different surgeries to correct his condition.

His experiences led him to write a book for children titled “Where’s Red?”

“My school has a young-author’s program that teaches us how to write our own stories,” Garrett said. “That’s where I got the idea to write about my own experience with cleft lip.”

The book is about a red crayon that has imperfections and stands out from all of the other crayons. The crayon is upset and broken. By the end of the book the red crayon realizes that despite his imperfections he is no less important than anyone else.

Cleft lip and palate are malformations that occur early in pregnancy. Clefting results when there is not enough tissue in the mouth or lip area, and the tissue that is available does not join together properly.

Cleveland Clinic plastic surgeon Dr. Francis Papay took bone marrow from Mitchell’s hip to fix his gums.

Papay has been Garrett’s surgeon his entire life.

“We are so grateful to Dr. Papay,” said JoEllen Mitchell, Garrett’s mother. “He’s been so wonderful to Garrett through all of his surgeries.”

Garrett wanted to thank Papay. After his book was published, Garrett took the book to Papay and presented it to him in person.

“Receiving this book was the greatest thank-you a surgeon can receive,” Papay said. “Garrett is such a bright boy and I’m so proud of him.”

Garrett was shocked at how popular his book became.

“I started out just wanting to write a book with my mom,” Mitchell said. “But before I knew it all of our friends and family were asking for copies of it!”

Garrett’s mom, JoEllen, drew all of the illustrations for the book.

“Creating this book together has been such a great experience for me and Garrett,” JoEllen said. “This is going to be something we can look back on proudly.”

Contact Christina Graw at 329-7144 or cgraw@chroniclet.com.

CLEVELAND — The Indians had to sit through nearly a two-hour rain delay and play 11 innings Sunday at Progressive Field, but no one in the Cleveland clubhouse had complaints with the end result.

An all-around banner day for the Indians was capped in dramatic fashion by the unlikeliest of heroes in rookie second baseman Cord Phelps, who hit a three-run walk-off home run with one out in the 11th to power Cleveland to a 5-2 victory.

“I guess it was worth the wait to win a game like that,” said Indians manager Manny Acta, whose team won for the fifth time in seven games to remain atop the Central Division standings with a one-game lead over Detroit. “I think Cord deserved to win the game, because he hit the ball hard all day. He was the right guy at the plate in that situation.”

It didn’t appear that way when Phelps, a rookie who was called up June 8 in hopes that he would provide an offensive boost in place of struggling veteran Orlando Cabrera, strode to the plate with just two hits in his first 20 big league at-bats.

But after taking a ball from Pirates reliever Tim Wood, Phelps shocked the stadium by sending a drive deep to right-center to touch off a celebration on the field and among the 30,023 fans in attendance.

“That was incredible for my first home run to be a walk-off,” said Phelps, who hit Cleveland’s third walk-off homer of the season. “I think that’s like my first walk-off hit ever.

“I knew I hit it well. I knew it was going over the outfielder’s head for sure, but I haven’t played in this park a whole lot.”

The Indians were on the mark in nearly every facet of the game in the series finale.

While the offense continued to struggle, scoring just twice on seven hits over 10 innings, Cleveland did get contributions from two of its biggest slump-ridden players — Shin-Soo Choo and Carlos Santana.

The pair of key cogs in the lineup combined to go 5-for-8, scoring three runs and driving in one. Choo had base hits in each of his last three trips to the plate, while Santana hit his ninth homer of the season — a solo shot that scored the first of the Indians’ two runs in a game-tying second inning.

Both Santana and Choo were on base for Phelps’ homer, Choo singling and stealing second before Santana was intentionally walked.

Neither team scored after the second inning until the Indians won it in the 11th.

Cleveland starter Justin Masterson was gone well before the fantastic finish, lasting just five innings, but keeping the Indians in the game by allowing two runs on seven hits.

“It really wasn’t about me today,” said Masterson, who is winless (0-5) in his last 10 starts despite posting a 3.41 ERA over the span. “I kept it close, but the bullpen did a tremendous job. Our guys hung in there and we got the win.”

Cleveland’s bullpen, which has been top-notch all year, rode to the rescue again. Starting with Chad Durbin, six relievers combined to blank the Pirates on just four hits over the final six innings. Left-hander Tony Sipp got the win by getting the final two outs in the 11th.

“How about that bullpen?” Acta said. “Every single one of them just went out there and kept us in the game. It was just a fantastic performance by those guys.”

The same can be said for shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, who went hitless in five at-bats, but made the play of the season in the field in the 10th inning.

Cabrera ventured into the outfield grass to make a bare-handed snare on a hard one-hopper from Brandon Wood, turning and making a strong throw from deep in the hole to record the second out.

“Half of the dugout was saying greatest player ever,” Acta said. “It was unbelievable, and the throw was even better. He’s played tremendous baseball for us. That’s the first time I’ve seen something like that.”

“We reminded him that he did have a glove,” Masterson said. “That’s what he’s been doing. That’s why he’s one of the best, if not the best, shortstop in the AL.”

Interleague play has begun well for the Indians, who have swept both Cincinnati and Pittsburgh in three-game series at Progressive Field. They are the only unbeaten team in the majors in interleague play.

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

CLEVELAND — This was a Father’s Day to forget for Jon Nunnally.

With the Indians in the midst of offensive struggles that have played a large part in decimating their substantial lead in the Central Division, Nunnally, Cleveland’s hitting coach for the past two seasons was fired.

The dismissal was made official Sunday, but Nunnally was actually let go prior to Saturday’s game, and was not in the dugout for the Indians’ 5-1 win over the Pirates.

Bruce Fields, the organization’s minor league hitting instructor since 2007, will take over for Nunnally on an interim basis for the remainder of the season.

Nunnally, 39, was a player favorite, with many of the Indians expressing surprise over his firing, which came with Cleveland in a first-place tie with Detroit.

“We’re still in first place,” right fielder Shin-Soo Choo said. “Why is he fired? I am very disappointed because he helped me a lot. Not just me, everybody on the team.”

Choo, a career .297 hitter, who had slumped to .237 through Saturday, is one of a number of Cleveland players performing below expectations at the plate.

The Indians entered Sunday batting .251 overall, and .271 with runners in scoring position, while averaging 4.4 runs per game. But they had hit an offensive rut as of late, batting .156 (17-for-109) with runners in scoring position since June 2 through Saturday, while being shut out six times in 18 games from May 27-June 14.

“We’ve been scuffling for a while and I felt like we need a new voice,” Indians manager Manny Acta said. “Jon worked hard and I want to thank him, but we are confident Bruce, who is very familiar with our current players, will continue the work he has done developing hitters at every level.”
Nunnally was at Progressive Field prior to Saturday’s game, meeting with Acta and general manager Chris Antonetti, then leaving the park after being fired. Antonetti said he and Acta made the decision, both feeling it was the right time for a change.
Fields, 50, is in his sixth year with the Indians, serving as Triple-A Buffalo’s hitting coach in 2006, before taking over as coordinator. He was born in Cleveland, played three years in the majors and was Detroit’s hitting coach from 2003-05.
“There is no magic answer,” Antonetti said. “It’s still the same group of hitters (that produced early), and a season is full of peaks and valleys. We hope Bruce can give us a better chance collectively. We think we have hitters who can do better.”
Nunnally spent six seasons in the majors, retiring in 2006, before beginning his coaching career as Cleveland affiliate, High-A Kinston’s hitting coach from 2007-08. He served the same role for Triple-A Columbus in 2009, then joined the major league staff for Acta’s first year as manager last season.

Next up

The Indians host the Colorado Rockies in a three-game series that begins tonight at 7:05.

Fausto Carmona (4-8, 5.79 ERA) opens the set for Cleveland, opposing RHP Juan Nicasio (2-1, 3.38), while Mitch Talbot (2-4, 5.02) goes for the Indians on Tuesday (7:05) against RHP Jhoulys Chacin (8-4, 2.81).

Josh Tomlin (8-4, 3.93) pitches the series finale Wednesday (7:05), while the Rockies counter with RHP Jason Hammel (3-6, 3.65).

Minor details

Second baseman Jason Kipnis got the only hit for Columbus in a 4-0 loss to Scranton on Saturday. … Shortstop Juan Diaz went 2-for-3 with his fourth homer and three RBIs Saturday in Double-A Akron’s 9-4 victory over Portland. Diaz, acquired along with Ezequiel Carrera in a trade with the Mariners last year for Russell Branyan, was batting .252 with 12 doubles and 28 RBIs in 66 games through Saturday. … Second baseman Tyler Cannon (12th-round draft pick last year) went 4-for-4 with two doubles, three runs and an RBI Saturday in High-A Kinston’s 9-0 win over Lynchburg. … Class A Lake County first baseman Jesus Aguilar went 2-for-4 with his team-leading 11th homer and three RBIs Saturday in a 6-5 loss to West Michigan. Aguilar, acquired in a trade with the Brewers for LHP Chuck Lofgren last year, entered Sunday batting .274 with 43 RBIs in 63 games.

Roundin’ third

Carlos Carrasco (7-3, 3.87 ERA) entered Sunday leading the majors with six wins since May 17. … The Indians have swept both of their first two interleague opponents, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, in three-game sets at Progressive Field. Cleveland, 124-129 all-time in interleague play, went 5-13 against NL opponents last year. … The Indians drew 100,437 fans to Progressive Field for their three-game interleague series with Pittsburgh. It was the largest three-day total since 2008. … Tonight, 7:05, STO/WTAM 1100-AM/WEOL 930-AM.

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