CLEVELAND — The Indians and left-hander Jeremy Sowers have been on a bit of a roll as of late, but both hot streaks were cooled Thursday afternoon at Progressive Field.

With Sowers lasting just 51/3 innings and Cleveland’s offense stuck in low gear for the second straight day, the Indians dropped a 4-1 decision to the Rangers — Texas taking the series after losing the opener.

Cleveland had pulled within 10 games of Central Division leader Detroit by winning seven of its last 11 games and five of its last six series, while Sowers had allowed two or fewer runs and logged at least six innings in each of his three starts since being recalled from Triple-A Columbus for the third time.

Sowers didn’t pitch terribly, allowing four runs on eight hits and a walk, but he got little aid from an Indians’ offense that was victimized by another Texas starter.

“I thought he pitched better than his line,” said Cleveland manager Eric Wedge. “They dropped a couple in and we didn’t. We just didn’t finish off innings. That was the difference.”

Despite a wealth of opportunities against Rangers starter Scott Feldman, the Indians scored just a run off the right-hander through six innings.

After scoring once in the first on a sacrifice fly from Shin-Soo Choo, the Indians put the first two aboard in the third on base hits from Grady Sizemore and Jamey Carroll. They failed to score when Asdrubal Cabrera moved the runners up on a sacrifice, Choo struck out and Jhonny Peralta lined hard back to Feldman, who stuck his glove out in a perfect spot.

The same scenario surfaced in the following inning, Luis Valbuena leading off with a single and Kelly Shoppach getting hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. Again, the Indians failed, when Trevor Crowe struck out and Chris Gimenez bounced into an inning-ending double play.

In contrast, the Rangers made the most of their opportunities.

With two on and two out in the third, Josh Hamilton sliced a double to left field that fell just out of the reach of a diving Crowe to score two. It was all that was required from Texas, which led the rest of the way — Sowers allowing a two-out solo home run to Elvis Andrus in the fourth and another run in the sixth after surrendering base hits to Hamilton and Hank Blalock to start the inning.

“I thought I was close to keeping us within reach,” Sowers said. “They took advantage of a couple of opportunities. Three runs certainly isn’t insurmountable, but it could’ve been better.

“Hopefully I can bounce back and put together another positive streak.”

Hamilton, who went 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles and two RBIs, raked Cleveland pitching the entire series, going 9-for-12 with four doubles and four RBIs.

“He’s a great hitter, and when he puts his bat on the ball, there’s a good chance something will happen,” Sowers said. “I have to feel good that he didn’t really drive the ball on me.”

The Indians can’t feel good about what they did with Feldman in the dugout.

Against a twosome of Texas relievers — Neftali Feliz and Frank Francisco — Cleveland produced just one hit over the final three innings, striking out six times.

Feliz, a flame-throwing right-hander who has been clocked at 100 mph, accounted for nearly all of the strikeouts, fanning five of the six batters (first five) he faced in the seventh and eighth innings. He hit 99 mph on the Progressive Field radar gun.

Feliz, 21, had struck out the last two hitters he faced before the appearance, giving him seven straight over two games, which tied a club record held by Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan.

“That kid Feliz has a chance to be pretty special,” Wedge said.

The Rangers used to be all about offense, but they’ve changed their spots this year, with their pitching staff ranked third in the American League entering Thursday. They displayed as much to the Indians, who after scoring all of their runs in the third inning to win the first game of the series 5-0, scored just once over the next 23 innings.

“They’ve always hit,” Wedge said of the Rangers. “The difference this year has been their pitching.”

Tonight

• Who: Cleveland at Minnesota
• Time: 8:10
• Where: The Metrodome, Minneapolis
• Pitchers: Masterson (3-3, 4.22 ERA) vs. Baker (9-7, 4.85)
• TV/radio: SportsTime Ohio; WEOL 930-AM, WTAM 1100-AM

Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.

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