CLEVELAND - The Cleveland Indians couldnt wait any longer for Justin Masterson to fix his pitching problems. The Indians placed Masterson on the 15-day disabled list with inflammation in his right knee Tuesday. Masterson, the teams opening day starter, is 4-6 with a 5.51 ERA. Manager Terry Francona talked with Masterson on Monday after the right-hander allowed five runs and six hits in two-plus innings against the New York Yankees. "Mastys first inclination was wanting to pitch through it, which we respect," Francona said. "The way it was going, though, we thought wed DL him and get him some treatment." Masterson made the All-Star team last season when he went 14-10 with three shutouts. The Indians considered him to be their staff ace going into the season, but Masterson hasnt won since June 8 and has pitched more than four innings once in his last five starts. Masterson has been dealing with a sore knee most of the season. He was pushed back a couple of days earlier this month, but his results havent improved. "Its hard to imagine it would help," Francona said of the injury. "Im not in his body. When a guys out there competing, I dont think they think about it a lot, but I dont think it helps." Masterson was pulled without retiring a batter in the third against New York. He walked three, hit a batter and rarely topped 90 mph in his 54 pitches, throwing only 24 strikes. He has given up 19 runs, 27 hits and 17 walks in 18 innings over his last five starts. Mastersons short outings have also also put a lot of stress on the bullpen. Francona used five relievers Monday and six a week ago when Masterson didnt record an out in the fourth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers. "Maybe two weeks would be best for him and us because he was exiting early," Francona said. "Its hard to keep doing that and keep the bullpen not only healthy, but productive." Masterson is a free agent after this season. The two sides talked about a contract extension in spring training, but didnt reach an agreement. Corey Kluber is the only starter whos still in the rotation that opened the season. Zach McAllister and Danny Salazar are pitching at Triple-A Columbus while Carlos Carrasco was moved to the bullpen after four starts. The rotation includes Trevor Bauer, Josh Tomlin and T.J. House, who all began the season in the minors. The Indians are in third place in the AL Central with a 43-45 record and trail first-place Detroit by 6 1-2 games. "Youre going to need more than five starters," Francona said. "Its a difficult thing to build in depth. You walk a fine line there. I dont think our record is what we want it to be. You can whine about it or you can choose to try to figure out a way to win. McAllister or Salazar will be recalled to start Saturday against the Chicago White Sox. 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Edwards was awarded the win under caution ? a victory he was headed to before the mishap ? and celebrated his third career win at Bristol with his trademark backflip on the slick concrete. "Oh, man, I thought, This is stupid. I shouldnt do this ... Its awfully glossy. It might be slick," he said. "I didnt want to stick it perfectly and have my feet go that way and break my arm on the concrete. That would have been terrible. I was actually really nervous about that." NASCAR vice-president of competition Robin Pemberton said a person in the flag stand leaned on the manual override switch and that turned on the caution lights. Six seconds after the lights were turned on, the flag man waved the yellow flag. Pemberton said that the flag man can wave the caution flag without a call from series officials in the tower if they see a proper reason. "We were scanning cars and spotters, and theres some of us in the tower that only heard it after the teams were talking about it because we were looking at other things around the racetrack," Pemberton said. Said Edwards: "No harm, no foul, lets act like it just didnt happen." The victory makes Edwards the fourth winner in four races this season and, under NASCARs new rules, is supposed to get him into the 16-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. "Just to have a win this early, man, it is a huge relief," he said. Five other things from water-logged Bristol: BUMP-AND-RUN: With Chase berths conceivably on the line with a win, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was salivating at a shot at teammate Edwards when the final caution came out at Bristol. But he knew if the race went green again, his only chance would be the old Bristol bump-and-run, which hasnt been used in years. Its a risky move to do to a teammate, but owner Jack Roush said he expected nothing less from Stenhouse. "When it comes time to really charge for the checkered flag, there are no team orders, there aree no rules," Roush said.dddddddddddd "I expect them to race one another as they expect to be raced, not only with one another, but with everybody in the garage. I expect Ricky is as fierce a competitor as there is out there, and if his car has the speed in it and he can get to the car in front of him, particularly the short track, youd bump-and-run and take the prize if you could. Id be disappointed if he didnt have that in his mind." AWESOME ARIC: Aric Almirola finished a career-best third ? and Richard Petty Motorsports teammate Marcos Ambrose was fifth as four Ford drivers placed in the top-five ? but Ambrose felt he could have gotten more. He restarted second behind Carl Edwards with 70 laps to go and had one solid chance to take the lead. If hed gotten past Edwards, he just might have grabbed his first career victory. "These races are so hard to win, and it was a great day for us," he said. "Im not disappointed at all with third, but when you see it and you can taste it and its that close, you wonder what could have went different." SMOKE RISES: Tony Stewart salvaged what looked like it was going to be an awful weekend with a season-best fourth-place finish. It came after he qualified 37th, needed two Saturday practice sessions with crew chief Chad Johnston to make significant improvements to the car and needed the entire race to work his way into the top-10. "Its a step in the right direction for sure. This is a big one. If you come out of this place with a top-five youve had a good day," he said. DISSAPOINTED WITH THE FINISH: Kyle Larson flirted with the lead and was in position to race for the win until the race-changing caution with 77 laps remaining. He went to pit road third, took four tires and restarted ninth. So even though he finished a career-best 10th, the rookie wasnt thrilled. "Its crazy to think its kind of a disappointing finish for the way we ran for most of the race, but all in all it was a good race," Larson said. DALES BAD DAY: Dale Earnhardt Jr.s strong start to the season finally came to an end at Bristol, where he finished 24th after opening with a win and two second-places. Although his Chevrolet wasnt great all weekend, his trouble Sunday was compounded by two left-front tire issues. Once he was out of contention, he was basically just making laps for the bulk of the race. It cost Earnhardt the points lead, which went to Brad Keselowski. Earnhardt now trails Keselowski by 10 points. ' ' '