Francona watching games at home

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

Indians manager Terry Francona is resting at home following a heart procedure and four-day hospital stay.

Francona was released from the Cleveland Clinic on Friday night, one day after undergoing a cardiac ablation for an irregular heartbeat. Francona returned to his downtown residence during the Indians’ 11-2 win over the Detroit Tigers.

The 58-year-old Francona had been experiencing dizziness and an accelerated heart rate over the last month. Following an array of tests, he was admitted to the hospital Tuesday after doctors detected abnormal readings from a heart monitor he had been wearing for several weeks.

Doctors hope Francona’s noninvasive surgery will correct the arrhythmia, which left untreated could lead to blood clots, heart failure or stroke. They want him to his ease his normal routine, so Francona will skip Tuesday night’s All-Star Game in Miami.

Bench coach Brad Mills, who has been filling in for Francona, will manage the AL team with an assist from the Indians’ other coaches and Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash, who worked on Francona’s staff in Cleveland and is a close friend.

Francona and Mills have known each other since their college days at Arizona. They were teammates with the Montreal Expos, and Mills was also on Francona’s staff in Boston. The two have exchanged phone calls and text messages during the week, continuing their usual friendly banter.

“I’m looking forward to him coming back,” Mills said with a laugh. “That’s one of the things I told him. I said, ‘Hurry up. This playing sick is enough now.’ Obviously, I’m messing around with him.”