CLEVELAND TEAMS

Many key missed opportunities on offense and another shoddy performance by the bullpen led to the Tribe’s 6-3 defeat Sunday afternoon. With the game tied in the bottom of the ninth, Rafael Betancourt, who made his first appearance in nearly a week, surrendered a three-run bomb to Carlos Lee that gave the Brewers the sweep and their second walk-off victory in as many days. The Indians stranded 12 runners in the game and wasted several chances to put more runs on the board. In the third inning, the Indians failed to score with the bases loaded and no outs.

“We were horrible with runners in scoring position and less than two outs,” Wedge said. “We pushed their starter [Zach Jackson] to 80 pitches in three innings and we only get a couple of runs out of it. That’s ridiculous.”

Paul Byrd put forth a quality start, allowing three runs in six innings. Jhonny Peralta and Ronnie Belliard each had three hits for the Tribe, who finished their dreadful road trip with a 2-7 record.

As the Indians travel back home for their next series, they find themselves a distant 14 games out of first place and in fourth place in the Central. Shapiro needs to make a critical decision soon whether or not to scrap the season and bring up the youngsters. There clearly is no sign of a turnaround so perhaps the organization needs to swallow its pride and realize this season is pretty much over.