Smoke signals
• Indians designated hitter Mark Reynolds was out of the lineup for the final two games of the first half and he remained out for Friday's game in Minnesota. Francona said he was giving Reynolds, who is hitting .178 over his past 61 games, a break, but the manager also noted that he wanted to have Gomes paired with starter Scott Kazmir.
Entering Friday, Kazmir had a 3.26 ERA in 58 innings with Gomes compared to a 7.39 ERA in 28 innings with catcher Carlos Santana. With Gomes behind the plate, Santana slid into the DH role, pushing Reynolds to the bench.
"I really wanted Gomes to catch Kaz, because he's done such a good job with him," Francona explained. "So that sort of takes one spot away. But [Reynolds] will be in there [on Saturday]. ... We do want to get him on a roll."
• Indians rotation leader Justin Masterson did not pitch in the All-Star Game for the American League on Tuesday, but Cleveland did not consider bringing him back to start the opener of the second half on Friday. Francona said it was more important to stick with the schedule that was put together before the break. Masterson is slated to start on Sunday.
"We wanted all five guys to know when they were pitching coming out of the break," Francona said. "I didn't want them to have to watch the game and then throw a side in their backyard. We leaned on Masty pretty hard in the first half. We're going to lean on him again, so having a couple extra days won't kill him."
• Indians pitcher Brett Myers, who has been on the disabled list since April 20 due to a right elbow injury, has been shut down from throwing again. Francona said there is no established timetable for Myers to resume a throwing program.
"He's down for right now," Francona said. "The hope is that maybe we give him another break and give him another shot at it. I know we're getting to that point in the year where it's getting tougher. But, to his credit, he wants to keep trying. As long as he does, we're OK with that."
• Over the All-Star break, the Indians names Double-A Akron infielder Jose Ramirez as the organization's Minor League Player of the Week for July 8-14. During that time period, Ramirez hit .478 (11-for-23) with three RBIs, six runs scored and a 1.217 OPS. He collected four doubles and one triple in five games.