John Axford tweaking delivery to break from slump

Indians closer John Axford believes his work with pitching coach Mickey Callaway has helped him emerge from a mini-slump that caused him to blow two games on the current homestand. He pitched a scoreless inning Wednesday after allowing four runs with three walks in his previous two appearances.

"I'm just working on a small thing that (Callaway) and I noticed and it's been feeling better the last couple times out, for sure," Axford told MLB.com.

The two noticed a flaw in the pitcher's posture that was making his breaking ball run east to west rather than north to south. They have also been working on his arm slot on his fastball to allow him to keep it in the strike zone.