NOTEBOOK Indians vs. Pirates

Wedge to juggle rotation: Indians manager Eric Wedge is going to make more changes to his pitching staff, but he isn't revealing all his plans just yet. "I'm going to revise the rotation a little," Wedge said Sunday. Two scheduled off days this week give Wedge the luxury of making a couple of moves. "We'll stick with Cliff [Lee] and C.C. [Sabathia] in Minnesota and I believe Jake Westbrook will start on Friday in Detroit," Wedge said. By the time the rotation gets back to Westbrook, the right-hander will be working with eight days' rest after pitching a complete-game shutout over Kansas City on Wednesday night. Westbrook doesn't mind skipping a start at the Metrodome, where he is 1-5 with a 4.63 ERA in his career. "I don't feel like I've pitched terrible there, but we haven't won many of my starts in Minnesota, either," he said. Right-hander Paul Byrd, who allowed two runs to the Pirates over seven innings Sunday, likely will start Saturday in Detroit. "I'm feeling more comfortable, not walking guys and keeping us in the game," said Byrd, who has not issued a walk in his last two starts and only four over his last 32 innings since April 22. Wedge could skip over right-hander Jason Johnson, who is just 0-4 with a 9.73 ERA in six starts since April 18.
Not too late: Right-hander Bob Wickman believes the Indians, who have won five of six after a six-game losing streak, are ready to make a run in the AL Central, where Cleveland trails first-place Detroit by 7 1/2 games and Chicago by 6 1/2. "That funk we were in made it tough on ourselves," said Cleveland's closer. "We're going good again, but we have two teams ahead of us battling it out. It's tough to catch two hot teams. I've learned over the years to just worry about our team. We can't do anything about it if both those teams keep winning other games. If we don't give games away and take care of business, we should be right there with them."
Associated Press
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