Tribe's having fun

The Indians' 9-3 win over the White Sox yesterday was a lot of fun to watch, in large part because it involved fine performances by two guys who have been hurt much of the year. Victor Martinez hit what was rather unbelievably his first home run of the year, in his third start since having elbow surgery in June; and Fausto Carmona -- though he wasn't exactly dazzling -- won his third straight start, going 5 2/3 innings. He's now 8-5 with a 4.51 ERA, and if you subtract his disastrous first start off the disabled list, in which he gave up nine runs in 2 1/3, he's 8-4, 3.81.

The expanded roster limit allowed the Indians to call up Josh Barfield, Michael Aubrey, and pitchers Brian Slocum, John Meloan and Tom Mastny. That'll come in handy if they play a 20-inning game. The next game Meloan pitches in will be his major-league debut, so that's pretty exciting.

The news isn't all good, though. Travis Hafner, who's been on a rehab assignment in AAA Buffalo for the last week or so, is deemed not ready to return to the bigs despite hitting .318 in seven games for the Bisons. But he appears to have a positive attitude about it, and says he'll keep working on his shoulder through the offseason and be ready to come back in the spring. I have my doubts whether he'll ever again be the hitter he was a couple of years ago, but I hope I'm wrong.

Also, Aaron Laffey has been shut down with elbow inflammation. I believe he has a bright future if he can stay healthy, but that's always a big "if" when you're talking about a young arm.