Smooth performance: Vintage Brantley back

CLEVELAND — The Indians have been waiting for Michael Brantley to look like himself again. When Cleveland’s left fielder was activated from the disabled list, the team knew it might take time for him to find his timing and display the familiar smooth swing that has turned him into a star.

Brantley returned more than a week ago, but on Thursday night he was back. In a 9-4 victory over the Tigers that completed a three-game series sweep, the outfielder drove in three runs, churned out four hits and made an impressive running, tumbling catch at a critical point in the game.

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“That looked a lot like him tonight,” Indians manager Terry Francona said.

Both Brantley and the Indians expected that it might take the outfielder some time to regain his rhythm in the batter’s box. He was activated from the 15-day disabled list on April 25, completing a near six-month comeback from offseason surgery on his right shoulder. Given Brantley’s history of consistency, the Indians maintained faith that it would be a matter of time before things began to click again for him.

Brantley’s performance against Detroit was a portrait of him at his best.

Within a four-run first inning, Brantley pulled a 96-mph fastball from Tigers righty Michael Fulmer into right field for an RBI single. In the third inning, Brantley drove a pitch up the middle for another base hit. In the fifth, the outfielder slashed an offering the opposite way for his third single of the night. Finally, …

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