SOME good news

Nobody's really paying attention to the Indians right now, what with the Cavaliers on the verge of ending what was once such a promising season — but hey, the Tribe's won three straight. OK, the last two of those came against the pitiful Kansas City Royals; and OK, they're still just 13-18, and have zero chance of contending this year. Still:

• Russell Branyan has hit three homers and driven in five runs in his last two games.
• Fausto Carmona, Aaron Laffey, Chris Perez and Tony Sipp combined on a shutout yesterday. Carmona only threw 70 pitches through five innings, and surely would have gone longer if not for the rain delay. He's now 4-1 with a 3.43 ERA. Is he back to his 2007 form? Time will tell.
• Jake Westbrook FINALLY won his first game since 2008 on Tuesday.
• Mitch Talbot, who came into the season with exactly zero major-league victories, is now 4-2 after beating the Tigers on Sunday.
• The Indians are now in third place, one game ahead of the White Sox and 3 1/2 ahead of the Royals.

The Tribe goes for a sweep in a day game today. I hope they get it, because that would at least mean that SOMETHING good happened in Cleveland sports today, in case the Cavaliers get eliminated.