CLEVELAND — Carlos Carrasco is in a groove and now so are the previously struggling Indians.

With Carrasco offering up his third straight dominant start Saturday night, Cleveland rolled to a 5-1 victory at Progressive Field, securing the series against interleague rival Pittsburgh by winning for the fourth time in six games.

The Indians’ offense is beginning to show signs of life, but it was Carrasco that stole the show, needing little support to win for the third straight time. The right-hander allowed just a run on four hits over 6 1/3 innings, no-hitting the Pirates while allowing just one baserunner over the first five innings.

“Carrasco continues to throw the ball very well,” said manager Manny Acta, whose team reassumed control of the Central Division with a one-game lead over Detroit in the standings. “He looks very comfortable out there.

“He’s in a very good groove right now. Hopefully he can continue to do that. He looks real good right now. He looks like he can throw any pitch in any count.”

Locating his fastball to near perfection while mixing in a steady diet of breaking pitches, Carrasco stymied Pirates hitters for the majority of his outing. He struck out four and walked one, extending his scoreless innings streak to 21 1/3 innings before allowing his only run in the seventh.

“I had command of everything tonight,” Carrasco said. “My slider was very good today.

“The most important thing is throwing deep into the game and that’s what I’ve done the last three games.”

Carrasco has done plenty over that span, winning three times, while posting a minuscule 0.41 ERA. He is 6-1 since May 11, and is tied for eighth in the American League with seven wins on the season to go along with a 3.87 ERA.

“He’s been great,” catcher Lou Marson said. “He’s locating his heater and pitching off his fastball, which is what he needs to do.”

Marson has been behind the plate for the majority of Carrasco’s starts, coming up with him in the Phillies organization in 2004. He is comfortable with his former minor league catcher behind the dish.

“He reads my mind,” Carrasco said of Marson. “He knows exactly what I want to throw.”

Carrasco allowed his first hit to lead off the sixth on a liner to second from Michael McKenry that could have been handled by Orlando Cabrera. Cabrera leapt and had the ball in his glove before it popped out and he couldn’t scoop it in time to throw to first.

Acta thought Cabrera was going to catch the ball.

“Of course,” he said. “I was thinking no-hitter like everyone else.”

Cabrera atoned himself by hitting a solo home run off Pirates starter Paul Maholm to put the Indians in front 3-0 in the sixth, his first homer since April 16.

The Indians scored single runs in each of the first two innings, then added two more after the Cabrera homer to put the game away in the seventh.

A leadoff triple from Grady Sizemore that just missed carrying the wall in center sparked the inning. Sizemore rode home on a sacrifice fly from Michael Brantley and after singling and stealing second, Asdrubal Cabrera scored on a two-out base hit from Shin-Soo Choo.

“We executed very well with runners in scoring position,” said Acta, whose team has struggled mightily in the department as of late. “We have to continue pushing. It’s a homestand we want to play well in.”

Sizemore, who entered the night riding an 0-for-10 skid, went 2-for-3 with an RBI, two runs, a double and a triple.

Cleveland improved to 24-9 when it scores first, 30-3 when it outhits its opponent and 25-3 when scoring at least five runs.

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

CLEVELAND — As was expected, the Indians placed first baseman Matt LaPorta on the disabled list with a right ankle sprain.

Cleveland manager Manny Acta called LaPorta’s injury a “mild high ankle sprain,” and said he expects the first baseman to miss two to three weeks.

Outfielder Travis Buck was called up from Triple-A Columbus for his third stint with the Indians to fill LaPorta’s spot on the roster.

LaPorta could blame himself for the injury, with a poor baserunning move getting him caught in a rundown between second and third in the third inning Friday night. He sustained the injury while changing direction to go back to third, crumpling on the infield dirt and needing assistance to leave the field.

With LaPorta out of the lineup, the majority of playing time at first base figures to go to Carlos Santana. Buck, who took ground balls at the position prior to Saturday’s game, and third baseman Jack Hannahan, who played there in place of LaPorta on Friday, are also options.

The Indians went with Buck over rehabbing first baseman Nick Johnson, with Acta saying Johnson needed more at-bats on the minor league level. Johnson had played in nine rehab games with Columbus and Double-A Akron through Friday, batting .219 (7-for-32) with a double.

Acta was also asked if top prospect Lonnie Chisenhall hadn’t gone on the disabled list, would the Indians have promoted him from the minors to play third, while Hannahan moved to first.

“That’s the first time I’ve heard that,” Acta said. “We didn’t discuss that. I don’t think even if he was healthy that that was Plan B.”

LaPorta, who has been mediocre at best in the field, has struggled for the majority of the season at the plate, batting .242 with eight home runs and 31 RBIs in 59 games.

Buck is batting .226 with two homers and eight RBIs in 29 games for Cleveland. He has no hits in his last 20 big league at-bats.

Shift slidin’

The Pirates are the first team to employ a shift to the right side on left-handed hitters Shin-Soo Choo and Grady Sizemore, orchestrating the move once the first strike was recorded.

It guards against a bunt before the first strike, then plays the odds of both players pulling the ball.

“That’s going through the defensive charts,” Acta said. “It’s something that some teams do to distract the hitters. If you have enough data, I’m all for it. You’re playing the percentages.”

Both Choo and Sizemore tried to put down bunts against the shift with one strike Saturday, Sizemore fouling off the pitch and Choo bunting back toward the mound for an out.

Hitting pitchers

Indians pitchers have begun to take batting practice with a stretch of nine road interleague games on tap June 24-July 3.

Acta called Josh Tomlin the best hitter of the bunch, but isn’t predicting a lot of offense from his pitchers.

“Tomlin is very athletic. He swings the bat very good,” Acta said. “It is what it is. It doesn’t matter how much work we do. It’s not the same as a (National League) pitcher that goes through all of spring training doing it to go through a whole season.”

Minor details

Shelley Duncan went 2-for-3 with three of Columbus’ five RBIs Friday in a 6-5 victory over Scranton. … First baseman Beau Mills (first-round draft pick in 2007) was the only player with a multihit game for Double-A Akron on Friday, going 2-for-4, in a 4-3 loss to Portland. Mills entered Saturday batting .295 with four homers and 21 RBIs in 30 games. … First baseman Chase Burnette (18th round draft pick last year) had an up-and-down game Friday for High-A Kinston in an 8-0 loss to Lynchburg. He had two of his team’s three hits but also committed two errors.

Roundin’ third

The Indians are the only team in the majors to not start a left-handed pitcher this year. … Cleveland entered Saturday leading the American League with 10 homers out of the leadoff spot (Grady Sizemore 6, Michael Brantley 4). … The Indians signed another draft pick, agreeing to terms with 23rd-round selection, RHP Cody Allen, out of High Point University (Fla.). Cleveland drafted him in the 16th round last year. … NASCAR’s Kurt Busch was in attendance. … Today, 1:05, STO/WTAM 1100-AM/WEOL 930-AM. Masterson (5-5, 3.16) vs. Karstens (4-4, 2.66).

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

Carlos Carrasco won his third straight start, helping the Indians to a 5-1 victory Saturday night at Progressive Field that clinched the three-game series for Cleveland.

Carrasco allowed just a run on four hits over 6 1/3 innings, taking a no-hitter through five innings.

The Indians won for the fourth time in six games.

“Where would the Indians be without the bullpen?” was a question posed to manager Manny Acta after his team won a 5-1 decision over the Pirates on Friday.

The answer is fighting to stay out of last place in the Central Division, instead of leading it along with the Detroit Tigers through Friday.

There is no doubt the Indians bullpen has been the strength of the team this season, as it was throughout the second half of last year, when pitchers such as closer Chris Perez (2-2, 2.49 ERA 17 saves through Friday) and left-handers Tony Sipp (2-0, 2.15 ERA) and Rafael Perez (2-1, 1.32 ERA) began to establish themselves as top-shelf big league relievers.

Throw in a surprisingly dominant effort this year from right-hander Vinnie Pestano (1-0, 1.44 ERA, 32 strikeouts, 25 innings) and an efficient one from sidewinder Joe Smith (2-1, 1.29 ERA, three earned runs, 23 games) and you’ve got one of the American League’s best relief corps.

In fact, with three relievers boasting sub-.2.00 ERAs nearly three months into the season, you have one of the best bullpens in the majors.

The consistent performance from the pen has been especially pivotal as of late, with the Indians’ offense sagging to new lows and their starting staff failing to offer up the consistently strong starts they did to start the season.

Cleveland’s pen has preserved a number of leads that had they gone in the loss column, would have the Indians staring up at plenty of teams in the division, and would have harpooned their fast start that allowed them to build a substantial cushion in the standings.

Now, if they could just get their offense going and figure out what’s wrong with ace Fausto Carmona, they’d be back in business.

Smooth move

Recent call-up Cord Phelps has been largely a bust since the Indians promoted him from Triple-A Columbus, thinking he was a better offensive option than scuffling veteran Orlando Cabrera.

Though it’s been limited action — six games through Friday — Phelps had just one hit in 16 at-bats and had struck out five times. It is clear that he was not a better option than Cabrera, who has always been steady at the plate and in the field and didn’t deserve a seat on the bench for the likes of Phelps, a nice prospect, but far from the answer to Cleveland’s recent offensive woes.

If the Indians continue to want to platoon Cabrera, next up could be left-handed hitting Jason Kipnis, another top prospect who has been hot as of late for Columbus.

The Good

Pestano’s opponents’ batting average with runners on (.100) with runners on base ranked first in the American League through Friday, while his overall average against (.143) ranked second. … Travis Hafner was batting .500 (15-for-30) with two homers and 20 RBIs with runners in scoring position through Friday, while Asdrubal Cabrera was at .414 (24-for-58) with two homers and 30 RBIs. … Chris Perez entered Saturday having converted his last 11 save opportunities and 17 of 18 on the season. … Outfielder Michael Brantley entered Saturday hitting .327 (37-for-113) with four of his five homers and 15 RBIs at home. … Smith’s last 14 appearances through Friday were scoreless.

The bad

The Indians were 8-24 when scoring three runs or fewer through Friday. … Third baseman Jack Hannahan was batting .203 (29-for-143) against right-handed pitching through Friday. … Grady Sizemore entered Saturday riding an 0-for-10 skid, while batting .219 (7-for-32) with runners in scoring position.

The ugly

Recently called-up outfielder Travis Buck entered Saturday riding an 0-for-20 skid at the plate. … Former third batter Shin-Soo Choo was batting .180 (11-for-61) with runners in scoring position through Friday, while former cleanup hitter Carlos Santana was batting .190 (11-for-58) in the department. … Adam Everett was 1-for-16 through Friday. … Reserve outfielder Austin Kearns entered Saturday batting .195 on the season with two RBIs in 28 games. He was hitting .136 (6-for-44) without a homer or RBI at home. … Sizemore had struck out 48 times in 38 games through Friday. … Reliever Chad Durbin had allowed 14 earned runs in his last 16 appearances through Friday, with his season ERA standing at 7.39 in 26 games. … Entering Saturday, left-handed batters were hitting .488 (21-for-43) with four homers off right-hander Frank Herrmann.

Power Poll

1. Philadelphia Phillies: They owned baseball’s best record and had won seven straight through Friday.

2. Boston Red Sox: With the offense beginning to roll, this team is looking like the juggernaut everyone thought it was.

3. New York Yankees: A top-shelf lineup continues to carry a depleted starting rotation.

4. Milwaukee Brewers: Had overtaken Albert Pujols and the Cardinals for NL Central lead through Friday.

1. Detroit Tigers: Red-hot for a spell, the Tigers reduced a substantial deficit to share the AL Central lead with the Indians through Friday.

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