GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Travis Hafner hit his first homer since October shoulder surgery and Carl Pavano pitched effectively into the seventh inning for the Cleveland Indians in a 5-2 win over the San Diego Padres on Monday.
Hafner opened the second inning with a homer to right-center off Kevin Correia. Hafner went 1-for-4 and is hitting .227 with five RBI.
"Anytime you hit a ball good it is a good feeling, but I'm not concerned with home runs right now," said Hafner who hit only .197 with five homers and 24 RBI a year ago, when he missed three months with a painful shoulder.
"I've really started feeling better, timing wise, the past couple days," the 31-year-old designated hitter said. "The big thing is the confidence everybody in the organization has in me. I've got a great support group. They leave it up to me to pretty much see the ball and hit it."
Manager Eric Wedge confirmed that Hafner will hit in the No. 3 or No. 4 spot in Cleveland's order to open the season.
"He's been getting better and he's healthy," Wedge said. "It is only a matter of time until he gets his timing fine-tuned. It may take a little longer, but we're confident that he's fine."
Pavano allowed runs in each of the first two innings, then retired 10 in a row. He gave up four hits, walked one and struck out four.
"That was better than my last time out," said Pavano, who threw 94 pitches in his second straight start against the Padres. "They hit me a little harder last time."
In his previous outing, Pavano gave up seven hits and two runs over six innings to San Diego.
"Today, I got a lot of groundballs," said Pavano, slated to be Cleveland's No. 3 starter. "The hitters will tell you where you are, and putting the ball on the ground was a good sign."
In his fifth spring start, Correia allowed three runs and five hits over five innings and felt the same as Pavano about improving in his second consecutive outing against Cleveland.
"I did better against a good hitting team than I did against them last week," Correia said. A week ago, the right-hander gave up four runs in 4 2/3 innings to the Indians.
Padres second baseman David Eckstein left the field covered in infield dirt, the knee torn out of his right pants leg. The veteran went 1-for-3, but displayed his usual hustle on the bases in the field. In the fourth, he ranged far into right field to take away Josh Barfield's bid for a bloop single.
"We have a fungo machine that replicates those plays and I missed one just like it in practice this morning," Eckstein said. "Running out, I said, 'I've got to make this play.'
"That's part of what I have to do with this team. We have some good young players and if I can help show them the right way to play this game, then we should be better for it. I think we're going to surprise some people."
