"Travis Hafner decided against easing back into the flow.

Instead of going on a brief rehab assignment, the Indians' DH opted to be activated from the disabled list Sunday in time to face one of baseball's best, Seattle right-hander Felix Hernandez.

For three at-bats, it did not seem like a wise choice. Hafner hit a dribbler to third base and struck out twice.

Asked what he was thinking after the second whiff, Hafner chuckled and said: "Maybe I should have gone on the rehab assignment."

One inning later, though, Hafner brought the thunder. With the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh, Hafner ripped a fat pitch from King Felix into the Tribe bullpen in center field as part of a 9-1 victory at sun-soaked Progressive Field.

The Indians scored seven runs with two outs in the seventh to take a 7-0 lead. Right-hander Justin Masterson and four relievers combined to allow three hits as the Tribe (49-69) avoided a three-game sweep by an awful road team.

Seattle slipped to 46-72 overall, 17-40 on the road.

Hernandez, using an assortment of filthy stuff, gave up two hits through six. He had struck out seven and kept the pitch count relatively low.

"Felix got in a groove and basically was toying with us," Indians manager Manny Acta said.

The first two Indians went quietly. The third, Luis Valbuena, was following suit until Mariners second baseman Chone Figgins fumbled his grounder. Figgins scrambled to pick up the ball and threw a tad high, wide and late to Casey Kotchman. Valbuena applied pressure by busting it out of the box.

The error appeared to unnerve the emotional Hernandez.

Struggling Lou Marson punched a full-count single into the hole at second, Valbuena advancing to third. Michael Brantley fell behind, 0-2, before socking a 2-2 pitch up the middle for an RBI single.

Asdrubal Cabrera produced an RBI double to center, Brantley stopping at third. Shin-Soo Choo was intentionally walked ahead of Hafner.

"When they walk Choo to get to you, you kind of take it personal," Hafner said. "You want to do some damage." "