CLEVELAND — Victor Martinez underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow Friday at Cleveland Clinic. Now, he begins the road to recovery, while the Indians start hoping their all-star catcher will return to the lineup before the season is complete.
Martinez is expected to be sidelined for six to eight weeks, vowing Thursday to do what he could to make it back on the field, but with no guarantees in the department.  
“I heard it all went well,” said Indians manager Eric Wedge of the 45-minute procedure to remove loose bodies from the back of Martinez’s elbow.
The timing couldn’t be worse for the Indians, who have been scuffling offensively for much of the season and now will be without their top hitter for an extended period of time.
“It is tough, man,” said Martinez, who is on the disabled list for just the second time in his five-plus-year career, and underwent surgery for the first time. “It’s not fun when you’re going on the DL, especially right now, with the way we are struggling.”
There is a silver lining to all of it, though. The rest Martinez figures to get on the injured list should be beneficial for a bothersome left hamstring that has held him back since the season opener.
“If it’s not fine, I’m going to cut it myself,” Martinez said.

Score it

Though the Indians entered Friday with the lowest batting average in the American League (.245), they have been scoring a wealth of runs as of late — 76 in 12 June games through Thursday. The total was the second-most in the majors over the span.
On the season, Cleveland came into the series opener with San Diego ranked seventh in the AL with 301 runs.  

Alumni report

Three former Indians — third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff (2006), right fielder Brian Giles (1995-98) and center fielder Jody Gerut (2003-05) — were in the lineup for the Padres in the series opener.
Giles was a backup outfielder for two of Cleveland’s World Series teams (1995, ’97) before he was dealt to Pittsburgh for reliever Ricardo Rincon in what is considered one of former general manager John Hart’s worst trades.
Gerut and Kouzmanoff were considered two of the Indians’ rising stars, with Gerut finishing fourth in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2003 before a knee injury ended his tenure in Cleveland and prevented him from playing in the majors the past two seasons.
Kouzmanoff, the Indians’ sixth-round draft pick in 2003, played in 16 games for Cleveland in 2006 and became the third player in big league history to hit a grand slam in his first plate appearance. He was traded in the following offseason for second baseman Josh Barfield.

Sign and sealed

The Indians signed seven more draft choices Friday, including top-10 picks RHP David Roberts (fourth round, Long Beach State) and INF Jeremie Tice (sixth round, College of Charleston).
Cleveland has signed 10 picks from the June 5-6 draft, including seven of its top 14 selections.  

Roundin’ third

The Indians entered Friday with a 102-94 record in interleague play, 0-3 this year, after being swept at Cincinnati (May 16-18). Cleveland’s starter today, Cliff Lee, owns a 10-2 career interleague record.
• Casey Blake entered Friday hitting .367 (22-for-60) with three homers and 12 RBIs in his last 16 games, while shortstop Jhonny Peralta is headed in the opposite direction, batting .188 (9-for-48) with a .204 on-base percentage in 12 June games.
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. 

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