Red-hot Indians welcome back a key weapon

CLEVELAND The Cleveland Indians have top reliever Andrew Miller, one baseball’s best, back at their disposal.

Obviously they’ve managed OK without him.

The nasty left-hander was activated from the disabled list Thursday after recovering from knee tendinitis over the past three weeks, which happened to coincide with the Indians reeling off an American League-record 21 straight wins — the second-longest streak in 101 years.

While off to the side, Miller has enjoyed it.

“They’ve been an incredible team to watch,” Miller said Thursday before the Indians opened a four-game series against the Kansas City Royals. “It’s been a lot of fun. It’s not a lot of fun to miss out on ever, but they’ve been exciting to watch and have found a lot of different ways and pretty good baseball across the board. It’s a tribute the staff and what kind of team we have and the types of players we have and hopefully it’s a nice building block to where we want to go.”

The Indians have one goal — winning the World Series.

And to do that, they’ll need Miller, who dominated last year’s post-season like few relievers ever.

Miller hasn’t pitched since Aug. 21, when he pulled himself from an appearance in Boston and went on the disabled list for the second time with tendinitis in his right knee. The Indians started their streak three days later.

Manager Terry Francona laughed when asked if he had a spot for “this Miller guy.” The Indians intend to use Miller for a batter or two in Thursday’s game and closely monitor him before increasing his workload in preparation for what the club hopes is another long post-season.

“We need to build him back into this,” Francona said. “Because the goal is for him to be a huge weapon that he can be. But I think there’s a progression and we’ll pay attention to it.”