Think about it: On June 5, the day after manager Eric Wedge fired hitting coach Eddie Murray and replaced him with Derek Shelton, the Indians were at the bottom of the American League in runs scored and in team batting average.

But the Indians have undergone a complete change at the plate in this post-Murray era, and it points to Shelton's approach and communication skills more than anything else.

Yet he easily dismisses his role in the turnaround of the Tribe's bats, which now rank fourth in the league in runs scored (741), fifth in team average (.272) and third in homers (195).

"When I came in, I started talking to each individual guy about his approach and what we were going to do and it just kind of went from there," said Shelton. "That's why I think they deserve all the credit, because they've taken their approach and gone with it."

Listening to Shelton, his philosophy sounds like vintage Wedge. The Indians manager also speaks of approaches at the plate, sticking with those approaches and, if necessary, making adjustments.

Those may seem like easy philosophies to put out there for players, but they're not so easy, necessarily, to put into practice. At least, it didn't seem so when Murray was coaching the hitters.

Still, the change is less about Murray and his faults and more about Shelton and his player-friendly temperament. He's finding it easier to sell his advice than Murray ever was able to do.

"I don't know if you have to sell it as much as communicate it," Shelton said. "The biggest part of being a coach is the ability to communicate and the ability to listen.

"I just listened to what guys wanted to do and how they wanted to do it, and I kind of gave them thoughts within that."

Award talk: The fact that Cliff Lee and Travis Hafner have found their names thrown around for the Cy Young and MVP awards, respectively, didn't draw much of a response from Wedge.

He was less inclined to single out one or two names of the collective whole.

"I respect what a lot of our guys are doing individually," Wedge said.

Here's the question: What is the team record for most homers in one inning? And how many times has the feat been accomplished? (See answer below)

Quotable: "I've got the urge to break things at some point, you know. It's almost to the point where it's funny. Not much I can do about it. I figure I can save myself a few hundred bucks and just sit down and have a beer." -- Kevin Millwood, on his tough-luck pitching this season

Did you know? According to Elias Sports Bureau, Hafner would be the 10th player in Indians history to compile a .300/30/100 season, if he can stay above the .300 plateau.

The other nine were: Earl Averill (1931-32, 1934), Albert Belle (1994-96), Rocky Colavito (1958), Juan Gonzalez (2001), David Justice (1997), Manny Ramirez (1995-96, 1999, 2000), Al Rosen (1953), Jim Thome (1996, 2002) and Hal Trosky (1934, 1936).

This and that: The Indians are 40-16 (.714) when Hafner has driven in at least one run and 33-38 (.465) otherwise. ... Entering Thursday, the Indians had a 2.18 ERA over 19 September games. ... Grady Sizemore is the seventh player in club history to hit 20 homers and steal 20 bases. ... Closer Bob Wickman, who had saved 15 straight games entering Thursday, is vying to become just the second Indian to lead the American League in saves. Jose Mesa did it with 46 in 1995. ... The Indians have gained 12 1/2 games on the White Sox since Aug. 1. ... The last Indians pitcher to lead the American League in ERA was Rick Sutcliffe (2.96) in 1982. Millwood currently leads the league with a 2.97 mark. ... Lee's 17 wins are tied for second in the league. It's the highest total by an Indians pitcher since C.C. Sabathia, whose wife gave birth to the couple's second child over the weekend, won 17 in 2001. Lee's eight straight wins are the longest Indians streak since Charles Nagy did the same in 1996. ... The Indians bullpen ERA of 2.86 is the lowest in Majors. ...The Indians are 72-40 (.643) since May 21 (112 games). ... The Indians are 27-10-4 over their last 41 series played. ... The Indians are 54-3 when they score six or more runs.

Tribe tidbits: Tribe fans can buy tickets home games through the Internet at www.indians.com, at the Jacobs Field box office, at the seven Cleveland Indians Team Shops in Northeast Ohio and through the Ticketmaster.com phone center (1-866-48-TRIBE).

On this date: In 1911, Hall-of-Famer Cy Young, 44, picked up his 511th and final career victory. Young, pitching for the Boston Braves, shut out the Pirates, 1-0. He'd started his final season with the Cleveland franchise.

And the answer is: Twice in team history, the Indians have recorded four homers in an inning. The first time was July 31, 1963, against the Angels; the second time, July 16, 2004, against the Mariners.

On deck: Sabathia (14-10, 4.07 ERA) will start Game 2 of this four-game series in Kansas City on Friday. He'll face Royals right-hander Jose Lima (5-16, 6.95 ERA).