Rangers sweep Tribe

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

Cleveland Indians manager Manny Acta has tried everything to get his team out of its first extended skid of the season.

So far, nothing has worked.

Sunday’s 2-0 loss to Texas ended a miserable weekend for the Indians, who absorbed a four-game sweep by the Rangers. Cleveland has lost four straight for the first time this season and has dropped nine of 12 overall.

A lack of offense has been Cleveland’s biggest problem. The Indians were shut out in the last two games of the series against the Rangers and have scored only two runs in the last 29 innings. Acta has moved hitters down in the batting order and given struggling players days off, but the results have remained the same.

“There’s only so many combinations of lineups you can do when you have only a couple of guys swinging the bat well,” Acta said. “You can’t hit [Michael] Brantley and [Asdrubal] Cabrera in every spot.”

The Rangers twice turned double plays on Indians veteran Orlando Cabrera, who was moved into the second spot in Cleveland’s order. Acta dropped Asdrubal Cabrera, who is batting .301, down one spot to No. 3 and Shin-Soo Choo, mired in a 4-for-25 slide, was sixth in the lineup after getting Saturday off. Grady Sizemore, who came off the disabled list last week, had Sunday off.

Brantley, who is hitting .282, and Matt LaPorta had leadoff singles for Cleveland, and Carlos Santana had a one-out double in the seventh for its only other hit.

LaPorta maintains the Indians aren’t pressing.

“Adversity happens,” he said. “We’re going to come through it.”

The Progressive Field magic that helped the Indians become one of the best stories in baseball over the season’s first two months also has disappeared. Cleveland has lost six in a row at home, where it opened the season 19-4, a stretch that included a 14-game winning streak.