Cabrera, in turn, has begun to see his performance decline.

After putting together an 11 2/3-inning scoreless streak to start the season, Cabrera had given up five runs in his last six innings of work entering Thursday's action with the Angels.

In the infamous protest game on April 28, Cabrera was sent out to protect a 4-3 lead against the Orioles and gave up two eighth-inning runs. On Sunday in Baltimore, he was handed a 9-3 lead in the eighth, and he gave up another pair to make a big lead a little less comfortable.

And Wednesday night against the Angels, his first-pitch fastball to Gary Matthews Jr. in the eighth inning turned into the game-winning home run in a 3-2 loss.

Despite all those recent troubles, though, Wedge believes Cabrera has the mental makeup to be a reliable, late-inning arm.

"He's definitely capable of pitching late in the game," Wedge said. "We've seen that before. He's just had a couple bad outings, and he needs to bounce back."

Wedge said he was encouraged by the remainder of Cabrera's outing Wednesday night, after he served up the leadoff bomb. He gave up a double and a walk, but managed to get out of the inning without giving up another run.

Ever since he put together a dominant run out of the 'pen for the Indians at the end of the '05 season, Cabrera has been viewed by some in the organization as a potential closer in the bigs.

For now, he's still trying to find his way in the late innings, though he said he doesn't fret over his role one bit.

"It's no different," he said. "This year, I'm not thinking about situations. I'm not worrying about what inning I pitch in or anything like that."

Watchful eye: Before the bottom of the seventh inning began Wednesday night, Angels manager Mike Scioscia had home-plate umpire Ted Barrett check the ball being used by Paul Byrd.

Did Scioscia think Byrd, who had blanked the Angels for six innings at that point, was scuffing the ball? Apparently not.

"[Catcher Kelly] Shoppach threw the ball to second [during warmups] and it skipped in the dirt," Byrd said. "Scioscia doesn't miss anything. He's a great manager. The ball had a little dirt on the seam, but it wasn't scuffed."

Here's the question ... Which former Indians third baseman has the highest career fielding average: Travis Fryman, Ken Keltner, Buddy Bell, Matt Williams or Graig Nettles?

Boys with toys: The diversion of choice in the visitors' clubhouse at Angel Stadium this week has been a tiny toy helicopter that flies through the air at the command of a remote control device.

Several players, including Victor Martinez and Franklin Gutierrez, have been enamored with the LittleBee Helicopter, flying it around the clubhouse and performing dive bombs into unsuspecting teammates.

"Minds are easily amused," Trot Nixon observed from afar.

Tribe tidbits: The Indians will have the 13th overall pick in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft, which will be held June 7. The club does not hold a second- or third-round pick because of the free-agent signings of Roberto Hernandez and David Dellucci. ... Sports Illustrated surveyed 11 Major League talent evaluators to assemble a "dream rotation" made out of rookies and up-and-comers in the game, and Tribe prospect Adam Miller made the cut. In a 5-4-3-2-1 scoring system in which an evaluator's top pick received five points and fifth pick received one, Miller finished with nine votes. Finishing ahead of Miller were Boston's Daisuke Matsuzaka (46 votes), Philadelphia's Cole Hamels (40) and the Yankees' Phil Hughes (25). San Francisco's Tim Lincecum rounded out the rotation with eight votes. ... The Indians homered in 24 of their first 31 games this season.

Down on the farm: Left-hander Rafael Perez gave up three runs (two earned) on eight hits over seven innings to get the win, as Triple-A Buffalo beat Columbus, 6-3, on Wednesday. Ben Francisco homered and drove in four runs. ... Third baseman Rodney Choy Foo and second baseman Argenis Reyes both drove in a pair of runs in Double-A Akron's 7-6 win over Binghamton. ... Sparked by a homer and three RBIs from catcher Max Ramirez, Class A Kinston beat Frederick, 5-4. ... Third baseman Jared Goedert homered twice in Class A Lake County's 5-3 win over Lexington. Goedert now has 13 homers and 32 RBIs in just 29 games this season.

And the answer is ... With a career fielding average of .965, Fryman leads this list of fine-fielding third basemen. He won one Gold Glove for his work with the leather. Keltner is second on the list with a .965 fielding percentage. Bell had a .964 fielding percentage, but he also had six Gold Gloves, the most for any Indians third baseman.

On deck: The Indians will head up the California coast to Oakland for a three-game set with the A's this weekend. Left-hander C.C. Sabathia (5-0, 3.45 ERA) will get the start in Friday's 10:05 p.m. ET opener, opposite right-hander Joe Blanton (3-1, 3.61 ERA).