Indians continuing to struggle at home

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

It’s easy to see why Indians manager Manny Acta isn’t happy these days.

Acta’s team, which has been riddled by injuries, poor starting pitching and uninspired play in general, is in its worst stretch of the season.

Sunday’s 6-3 defeat to Minnesota was Cleveland’s seventh loss in nine games and ended a week Acta certainly would like to forget. The Indians dropped two of three at home to both Kansas City and Minnesota, the two worst teams in the AL Central.

“Not a good homestand, especially when you win the first game of both series and you’re not able to win another ballgame,” Acta said. “We continue to struggle as a team.”

The Indians were flying high when they swept a three-game series at home against Detroit late last month. Since then they were swept by surging Chicago in a three-game series and then fell flat at home.

“Against two teams at the bottom of the division, you need to take advantage of that,” designated hitter Shelley Duncan said. “We didn’t play very good baseball on this homestand.”

Cleveland has been without catcher Carlos Santana (concussion), designated hitter Travis Hafner (knee surgery) and third baseman Jack Hannahan (calf and back).

The Indians were a step behind the Twins all day. Starter Justin Masterson (2-5) pitched out of trouble several times, but still lost. All of Cleveland’s runs were unearned thanks to Minnesota’s sloppy defensive play. The Twins had three bunt hits and an infield hit that turned into a double.

Scott Diamond (4-1) gave up seven hits without a walk as the Indians fell to 4-12 against left-handed starters.

“I wish I had it,” Acta said when asked if there’s a solution to the problems against lefties. “We do have a lot of lefties in our lineup and the majority are better hitters against right-handers, but when we try to sneak in some of our right-handed bats in there to help out, they’re not hitting them either.”