Monday, July 27, 2015
Associated Press
CLEVELAND
A lost weekend for the Cleveland Indians ended in a closed-door meeting with manager Terry Francona.
The message following Sunday’s 2-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox: if the Indians, now in last place in the AL Central, want to keep their playoff hopes alive, things have to change — quickly.
“Nobody’s held accountable and it’s just not the way we’re going to do business here,” second baseman Jason Kipnis said. “So we held a team meeting to rein the guys back in. Get us back to where we need to be, get our heads straight.”
The entire clubhouse was feeling frustrated after the four-game sweep, in which the White Sox outscored the Indians 26-5 and Cleveland never led.
Entering the day 61/2 games out of the second AL wild card, the Indians’ playoff chances are beginning to slip away, but Francona used Sunday’s meeting to remind the team that there is still time to turn it around.
“There is too much adversity in this game and we need to start attacking it better,” Francona said. “I’m responsible for that and it’s not been going the way I want it to.”
The Indians will have to put their renewed mindset to work fast, as the AL Central-leading Royals are coming to town for a three-game series starting today.