Smoke signals

• Entering Wednesday, the Indians led the Majors in wild pitches (48) and catcher Carlos Santana had been behind the plate for the most wild pitches (33) in baseball. In June, Cleveland had 19 wild pitches. Francona said he has seen improvement of late from Santana when it comes to blocking pitches.

"I think he's gotten himself in a position now where he can show his athleticism," Francona said. "He's working lower, so he's not working up to down, he's working down to up. And it's very noticeable. I give [bench coach and former catcher Sandy Alomar Jr.] a lot of credit and give Carlos a lot of credit."

• On Wednesday, the Indians named High Class A Carolina second baseman Joe Wendle the organization's Minor League Player of the Week for the period of June 24-30. Over that time period, Wendle hit .400 (12-for-30) with two home runs, three doubles, one triple, five RBI and a 1.191 OPS in seven games for the Mudcats.

• Santana turned in a unique game for the Indians in Tuesday's 6-5 win over the Royals, finishing 0-for-1 with one sacrifice fly, two RBIs and three walks. Santana became only the fourth Indians player since at least 1916 to have no hits, two RBIs and three walks in a game, joining Brook Jacoby (Sept. 21, 1989), Dale Mitchell (June 6, 1949) and Odell Hale (June 13, 1936).

• With its win on Tuesday, Cleveland now boasts a Major League-best .720 winning percentage (18-7) in one-run games this season. Over the past five seasons, Cleveland owns baseball's best record (114-87, .567) in games decided by one run.