The Indians rallied to tie the game in the eighth inning, but Colorado won it in the ninth with a solo home run from Seth Smith off closer Chris Perez to power a 4-3 victory.

Travis Buck snapped an 0-for-24 skid with a two-out single that tied the game at 3 in the eighth.

Smith hit his second homer of the game in a 2-2 count off Perez.

The Indians won in dramatic fashion at Progressive Field on Sunday, with rookie Cord Phelps hitting a three-run walk-off home run to power a 5-2 victory over the Pirates in 11 innings.

It was the first career homer for Phelps, who entered the game with just one hit in his first 16 big-league at-bats.

The win completed a sweep for Cleveland, which has won five of its last seven games.

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.