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Smoke signals

By Jordan Bastian and Mark Emery

• Right-hander Josh Tomlin, who has been on the disabled list all season while recovering from Tommy John surgery on his right elbow, made his first Minor League rehab start for the Arizona League Indians on Friday. Tomlin logged one shutout inning with one hit allowed and one strikeout.

• Entering Saturday, the Indians led the American League in advancing from first to third base (or home) on a base hit, doing so 72 times this season. In the Majors, only the Cardinals (74) had done so more times than the Tribe.

• The Indians' pitching staff had posted a 3.67 ERA (141 earned runs in 346 innings) over the past 39 games, entering Saturday's action. In 14 games since July, the Tribe's pitching staff has led the Major Leagues with a 2.38 ERA (33 earned runs in 125 innings).

• Cleveland entered Saturday's game with Texas sporting a Major League-leading .778 (14-4) winning percentage against the AL West. Since 1994, when the divisions were realigned, the Indians' best winning percentage against the AL West came in '99 (.690, 29-13).

Jordan Bastian is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Major League Bastian, and follow him on Twitter @MLBastian. Mark Emery is an associate reporter for MLB.com.
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