CLEVELAND — Children ran the bases at Progressive Field on Sunday as part of the “Kids Fun Day” postgame festivities.
At least someone wearing Indians colors did.
Another day on the diamond brought another pitiful performance from Cleveland’s offense, which mustered just four hits for the second straight game in a 2-0 loss to the Royals.
The Indians, who were swept in the rain-shortened two-game series, are at the bottom of the American League with a .242 team batting average and have displayed a run-scoring deficiency that is befitting a team facing Cy Young award winners on a regular basis. Cleveland, which has lost five of seven, has scored three runs or fewer in 16 of its 31 regular-season games — and six of its last seven.
“Offensively, we continue to struggle,” said manager Eric Wedge, whose beleaguered batsmen have been held to four hits four times this season and five hits or fewer on seven occasions. “This is one of those spots where the last thing you can do is hang your heads and feel sorry for yourself.
“We’re going to fight through this and we’re going to come out of it.”
That’s extremely wishful thinking for a manager who fills out a lineup card with six regulars who have struck out at least 20 times — Casey Blake (25), Asdrubal Cabrera (20), Franklin Gutierrez (21), Travis Hafner (30), Jhonny Peralta (25) and Grady Sizemore (23). And a manager with only one regular — Victor Martinez — who is hitting above .300.
He’s the cleanup hitter and doesn’t have a home run.
“You can’t reinvent the wheel,” said first baseman Ryan Garko, who had two hits Sunday to raise his average to .242. “We all know how to hit. We just have to do a little better job. It’s a combination of things. We’re just not stringing anything together right now.
“It’s different for every guy. You’re in the (batter’s) box all by yourself. It’s just you and the pitcher that can affect the outcome of the at-bat.”
The collective struggle of a lineup that ranked near the top of the majors’ offensive charts in 2007 and remained largely unchanged has been surprising and at the root of the Indians’ slow start.
“That’s as disappointing as anything,” Wedge said. “You’re rarely going to have everybody going at the same time, but, on the flip side, I don’t think it should ever be like this.”
The Indians’ most recent offensive debacle may have been their worst.
Albeit facing a respected veteran in Royals starter Gil Meche, the Indians were shut out for seven innings by a right-hander who entered his seventh start with a 1-4 record and 7.27 ERA.
The Indians didn’t advance a runner to third base and just one to second against Meche and two relievers. Sizemore, who singled to lead off the sixth, stood as Cleveland’s last baserunner.
Fans showered the field with deserved boos as KC closer Joakim Soria recorded the final out for his eighth save in as many chances. But the fans appreciated the effort of Indians starter Aaron Laffey, who produced his second strong start in two outings since being promoted from Triple-A Buffalo to fill in for an injured Jake Westbrook.
Laffey, who has been on the wrong end of two tough-luck defeats, began his big league season last Sunday with five no-hit innings against the Yankees, and nearly duplicated the feat this time around. Miguel Olivo’s single to center two outs into the fifth accounted for the Royals’ first hit.
Laffey allowed an unearned run on four hits and two walks, striking out five through seven innings.
“Let’s talk about Aaron Laffey,” said Wedge in an effort to speak positively during the early portion of his postgame news conference. “He’s a guy that pitched an outstanding game. I was very impressed with Aaron and with the way he pitched today.”
In repeated attempts to spark the offense, Wedge has already employed 26 batting orders. The next step, and most likely the only other option, is promoting players from the minors.
“We’re right in the middle of evaluating everything right now,” Wedge said. “We’re going to do anything we can to make any adjustments we can make to try and move forward. We’ve already made changes to the lineup. If we feel like we need to go beyond that, we’re going to do it.”
Slumping Indians hitters begin a three-game series at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, choosing to look at the silver lining in the Central Division, which has just one team above .500, the Twins at 16-14.
“We’re still in it in our division,” Garko said. “We’re very fortunate that everyone else isn’t winning games. That’s probably the only thing we have to be happy about. We’ve played pretty much as poorly as we can and we’ve still won seven of 10.”
It’s actually five of 10, but who’s counting, or hitting, these days?
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. 

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