NOTEBOOK \ Indians

Roster moves: Cleveland placed left-hander Aaron Fultz on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday because of a strained rib muscle. The Indians recalled right-hander Edward Mujica from Triple-A Buffalo to take Fultz’s spot in the bullpen. Fultz felt soreness in his right rib cage area following his last outing in Washington Friday. The move was retroactive to Sunday. Signed as a free agent in December, the 33-year-old has a 3-1 record and 1.71 ERA in a team-high 32 relief appearances. He has limited opposing hitters to a .153 batting average, allowing only 11 hits in 21 innings. It is Fultz’s second stint on the disabled list at the major-league level. He was on the 15-day DL in 2003 with a sore shoulder while pitching for the Texas Rangers. In 446 career appearances since coming to the majors with the San Francisco Giants in 2000, Fultz is 24-13 with three saves and 4.25 ERA. Mujica went 0-1 with 11 saves and a 5.84 ERA in 23 appearances at Buffalo. In two previous stints with the Indians this season, he allowed two runs and four hits in four innings.

Shoppach saves Wedge: Eric Wedge was still contemplating player moves Tuesday night when Kelly Shoppach made him look like a genius manager. Shoppach hit a game-winning three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland an 8-5 win over Oakland — sparing Wedge from scrawling even more names on and off his lineup card. “There wasn’t much more we could do there,” Wedge said. “We pretty much went all out to win that one.” Wedge had few options left when Shoppach delivered. He had only one position player left, and had given passing thought to using ace pitcher C.C. Sabathia as a pinch hitter should the game extend to extra innings. “You can’t look too far ahead or predict what is going to happen,” Wedge said. “You try to stay ahead of it. The thinking is just tie the ballgame. Then you worry about where you might have to put everybody.”

Speed thrills: Rookie Ben Francisco, inserted as a pinch runner, scored the tying run in the Indians’ last-ditch rally. He dashed all the way from first base on Travis Hafner’s double to left-center to score for the first time at the big-league level. “He was getting after it,” Wedge said. “That’s why he was in there, to tie it on exactly that kind of hit.” Francisco said Wedge gave him plenty of warning. “He told me a few batters ahead to go stretch and get ready,” Francisco said. “If I hadn’t warmed up, I would’ve pulled something for sure. With two outs, as soon as he hit the ball, I just took off. That was pretty exciting.”

Associated Press