Smoke signals

• Former Indians setup man Joe Smith, who suited up for Cleveland in the previous five seasons, was recently named the closer for the Angels. Smith signed a three-year, $15.75 million contract with Los Angeles as a free agent over the winter. Francona is looking forward to seeing Smith during the Tribe's upcoming three-game series in Anaheim.

"I don't want him to carve us up. That's saying the obvious," Francona said with a laugh. "I think so much of Smitty, even to the point where I know Smitty's kind of gone out of his way to be good to my son there. Things like that. I just think we all really like Smitty.

"He shows up every day, he wants the ball. It's just hard not to like him. If you don't like him, you're trying not to. We all loved him. I hope he comes in and hangs a breaking ball and somebody hits it a mile, but that doesn't change how I feel about him."

Francona's son, Nick, was hired over the offseason by the Angels to be the club's coordinator of Major League player information.

• The Indians have played in front of a packed house in each of the three Interleague games against the Giants at AT&T Park. Bourn said he believes it is a good experience for the Tribe to play in that kind of raucous environment, in which the fans are on the players all game long.

"I think it's important for us to play in an atmosphere like this," Bourn said. "This is a real big league atmosphere. You're against the crowd. The stands are packed. We don't see that a lot. We might see it in Detroit, maybe at Yankee Stadium. We don't see it every day. So when we come play in this atmosphere, I think it's good for our experience."

• Indians third baseman and cleanup hitter Carlos Santana headed into Sunday's game batting .128 through 23 games on the season. Santana was hitting just .056 (3-for-54) in his previous 15 games. During Saturday's loss to the Giants, Santana launched a foul ball out of AT&T Park and into McCovey Cove, providing a sign of life within another hitless plate appearance.

"Sometimes guys just need a hit," Francona said. "I do think he's closer. He hit the ball to right-center the other day, which was good. He took a couple walks, which was good. I still think he's gotten in a couple hitter's counts and he's pulled balls foul. That's an indicator that he's still getting around the ball a little bit instead of kind of staying through it. When he stays through it, those balls will stay fair."

• Indians pitching prospect Trevor Bauer earned the win for Columbus in a 6-2 victory over Norfolk on Sunday. Bauer gave up two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts and one walk in seven innings. Through four Triple-A starts, the righty has gone 3-0 with a 1.40 ERA and 0.97 WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched) with 28 strikeouts in 25 2/3 innings.