A glance around Rangers Ballpark shows just how far the Indians are from truly being an American League contender. Pennants flying from flagpoles high atop the stadium. Seats packed. All-Stars filling the bench in the home dugout.
This is what Cleveland — the team, its fans, the city — wants to experience again.
On Wednesday night, the Indians were handled with apparent ease by the Rangers in a 5-2 loss, dropping Cleveland to 3-6 on the current road trip. Tribe manager Manny Acta has called Texas the best team in the American League plenty of times, and the Rangers have not disappointed in backing him up.
“This organization has been there before,” Acta said of the Indians. “It takes time. They’ve done a very good job over there of putting that [Rangers] club together over the last few years.”
Cleveland starter Jeanmar Gomez lasted only four innings against the two-time defending AL-champion Rangers (85-57), who benefited from home runs off the bats of sluggers Adrian Beltre and Josh Hamilton. Texas righty Ryan Dempster took advantage of the support, sending the Tribe to its 35th loss in 44 games.
Over that stretch, Cleveland has suffered losing streaks of 11, nine, six and five games.
The Indians headed into this season with high hopes and the belief that they could compete for a postseason spot. For a while, Cleveland flirted with that prospect, residing in first place in the AL Central 70 games into the schedule. The Tribe is now mired in last place, playing out the season with an eye toward 2013.
There are multiple causes behind the Indians’ collapse and multiple holes in need of attention in the coming months.
First and foremost, Cleveland’s starting rotation — 8-27 with a 6.96 ERA over the past 44 games — warrants attention. Gomez, who has bounced between the Majors and Triple-A this year, has disappointed, providing one in a handful of question marks where there was initially optimism. The right-hander’s latest outing did not help matters.
Gomez (5-8) took the loss after giving up five runs on six hits in his brief appearance.
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