CLEVELAND — Michael Aubrey was in the lineup at first base for the third straight game Monday, a sign that Ryan Garko’s grip on the starting job is beginning to slip.
“Garko is still going to play first base,” said Indians manager Eric Wedge of the slumping second-year player who opened the season as the fulltime starter at first but is hitting just .236 (35-for-148) in 45 games. “I’m not going to jump head over heals into Michael Aubrey. He’s only been here for a week. But if I feel like he’s doing a good job for us, I’m not going to be afraid to play him.”
Along with Ben Francisco, Aubrey has arrived from Triple-A Buffalo to breathe life into a sagging offense that has held the club back for much of the year. He entered Monday batting .250 (4-for-16) in six games with two of his four hits going for home runs.
After a hot start, Garko, who won the job in spring training last year and hit .289 with 21 homers and 61 RBIs in 138 games, has tailed off and has not displayed the power he showed in 2007. He is hitting .182 (16-for-88) over his last 26 games, with four homers and 19 RBIs overall.
In addition to swinging the hotter bat, Aubrey, Cleveland’s first-round draft choice (11th overall) in 2003, is the better defensive player, with Garko already having committed three errors.
“I like the way Aubrey’s playing right now, and Garko needs to be doing better,” Wedge said.

Heave-ho Hafner

Travis Hafner joined Garko on the bench, sitting out while David Dellucci filled his designated hitter spot in the lineup. Hafner is hitting .217 (34-for-157) with four homers and 22 RBIs in 46 games — .189 (20-for-106) with two homers and 12 RBIs over his last 33 games.
“He’s grinding, fighting through it,” Wedge said. “It’s so important to get Travis going, not only for him but for the guys hitting in front of him and behind him.”

Offensive offense

The Indians entered Monday with 202 runs, their lowest total through the first 50 games of the season since they scored 200 in 2005. Only 35 teams in 107 years of Cleveland baseball have scored less over the span.
The Indians scored three runs or fewer in 54 percent (27 of 50) of their first 50 games after accomplishing the dubious feat in just 35 percent (56 of 162) of their games last year.
Cleveland entered the series opener with Chicago batting a major league-low .232 — .208 in 22 May games — with the
fourth-lowest run total in the American League.

Can they hit?

The Indians signed outfielder Todd Linden and infielder Jorge Velandia to minor-league contracts Monday and assigned them to Buffalo.
Linden, 27, began the season at Triple-A Sacramento (Oakland), where he hit .333 with three homers and 12 RBIs in 22 games. The switch hitter has played in 270 big league games with the Marlins and Giants, owning a .231 career batting average.
Velandia, 33, spent the first part of the season at Triple-A Syracuse (Toronto) before appearing in two games for the Blue Jays (one start against the Indians in the second game of a doubleheader at Progressive Field on May 12). He is a lifetime .182 hitter in 166 big league games for the Padres, A’s, Mets, Rays and Jays.

Draft days

The Indians will pick 29th in the first round of the amateur draft (June 5-6), with Baseball America predicting that they will take right-handed relief pitcher Ryan Perry out of the University of Arizona.
BA ranks the 6-foot-4,
200-pound Perry as the 26th best overall player in the draft, the 14th best pitcher.
Cleveland is without a supplemental pick after the opening round, with their next draft choice coming in the second round — 76th overall.
The Indians chose 13th overall last year, selecting infielder Beau Mills, who entered Monday hitting .257 with four homers and 30 RBIs in 47 games for Class A Kinston.

Roundin’ third

The Indians entered Monday losers of eight of nine games, which dropped them six games in the Central Division standings.
• Aaron Laffey (1.60), C.C. Sabathia (1.61) and Cliff Lee (1.76) have the lowest ERAs in the AL since April 17 (30-inning minimum).
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.

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