Bartolo Colon pitched seven shutout innings. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        They didn't gain any ground, but the Cleveland Indians did get a little peace of mind. If Bartolo Colon keeps pitching like he did Thursday night, the second-place Indians can get headed in the right direction — making up ground on the Minnesota Twins.

        Colon pitched seven shutout innings, giving his best performance since mid-April, as the Indians rolled to a 7-0 victory over the overwhelmed Reds.

        “At times, he was just overpowering,” said Reds All-Star first baseman Sean Casey, who went 0-for-4 and struck out twice. “It seemed like about the third inning, he started to heat up.”

        The team with the least-productive rotation in the majors needs Colon (7-7) to stay hot for a while.

        Cleveland's top starter and best hope for a playoff run had been pedestrian in his last 11 starts, going 2-5 with a 6.01 ERA. He showed signs of emerging in his last start before the All-Star break — four hits in 7 2-3 innings against Boston.

        He was even nastier against the intrastate rival Reds. Colon's fastball started in the low 90s and was topped out at 99 mph in the seventh, when second baseman Robbie Alomar's diving stop snuffed Cincinnati's only rally.

        Colon hadn't made a scoreless start since April 18, when he shut out Baltimore for eight innings.

        “To start the second half with a good game was real important,” Colon said. “It's going to set the tone for the second half.”

        The Indians sure hope so. They trail Minnesota by five games primarily because their top starters have been injured, inconsistent or both. If Colon can get on a roll, they can get right back in it.

        “He's the guy we go to,” manager Charlie Manuel said. “He should stop our losing streaks. He's our No. 1.”

        The Indians got solo homers from Jim Thome and Juan Gonzalez — the same two players who homered off Reds starter Chris Reitsma last month at Jacobs Field — and put the game away with four runs in the fourth. Travis Fryman had a two-run double and Kenny Lofton singled home two more as the AL's top hitting team rolled.

        The Indians usually bring thousands of fans to pack Cinergy Field turning it into Jacobs Field South. Only 28,816 turned out Thursday night, by far the smallest crowd for an Indians-Reds game in Cincinnati. Not many Indians fans made the four-hour trek on a weeknight.

        Indians Notes: The Indians lead the overall series 12-10. ... LHP Chuck Finley, on the DL with a sore neck, is scheduled to start for Double-A Akron on Sunday. ... LF Ellis Burks had three hits, then left the game as a precaution after jamming his knee.

Indians 7, Reds 0 Reds attendance off 21 percent Seattle GM opens old wounds for Griffey Indians' fans worry they'll never win Series Indians get encouraging sign from Colon Rocker gets OK to rock Griffey Sr. joins Dunn fan club Boone: Larkin's injury hurt most Reds box, runs

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