Short-handed Indians lose again to Kansas City

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

The Cleveland Indians can’t seem to catch a break right now, but they will gladly take one provided by the schedule.

Indians pitcher Jeanmar Gomez, who couldn’t hold a 3-0 lead, allowed five runs in five innings on Wednesday afternoon, and the Kansas City Royals rallied for a 6-3 victory at Progressive Field.

Cleveland lost for the fifth time in its last six games and dropped 11/2 games behind the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central. The Indians host Minnesota in a three-game series beginning Friday, giving them one much-needed day off to regroup.

“The day off comes at a perfect time,” said Cleveland manager Manny Acta, whose team led the division from April 24-May 28. “We all need to go home and relax, and come back and play better baseball on Friday. This was not a good series. The week continues to be rough for us.”

It has been rough, both on and off the field, as the Indians placed designated hitter Travis Hafner on the 15-day disabled list before the game with a frayed right meniscus. Athletic trainer Lonnie Soloff said the 34-year-old slugger will have arthroscopic surgery today and is expected to miss 4-6 weeks.

Earlier in the week, Cleveland lost catcher Carlos Santana (concussion) to the 7-day DL and has been without backup catcher Lou Marson (stitches in mouth) since Sunday, when he was hit in the face by a Gavin Floyd pitch in Chicago.

“It really hurts our lineup to be without Hafner and Santana,” Acta said.

The Indians went up 3-0 in the second on run-scoring singles by Casey Kotchman and Shin-Soo Choo, along with an RBI fielder’s choice by recently promoted catcher Luke Carlin.

Gomez (3-4) promptly squandered the lead by allowing two runs in the third, two more in the fourth and one in the fifth — all with two outs — to give Kansas City a 5-3 lead. The right-hander went five innings, allowing 10 hits while striking out three.