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Cliff Lee was cruising through the first six innings until the seventh when he ran into trouble. He gave up three in the inning as the Tribe fell again, this time to the Detroit Tigers 5-4 at the Jake. With the game tied at two, Craig Monroe put the Tigers up with a two-run homer in the seventh. The Tribe battled back but it once again wasn’t enough as they lose their fourth straight. Casey Blake homered twice in the game for the Indians, giving him six on the season.

We are really pressing right now. As Wedge mentioned after the game, the players may be putting too much on their shoulders and think they have to get the job done themselves.

“We’re in one of those stretches right now and have to work our way out,” Indians manager Eric Wedge said. “Some guys are trying to do a bit too much. If they just do what they are capable of individually, it will work out as a team.”

Nor should he be. The Tribe’s pitching has been a disaster. Paul Byrd and Jason Johnson have been pretty bad, and stiffs like Mota and Graves in the bullpen have been even worse. Shapiro didn’t hide his displeasure in a conference call with reporters:

“In general, I’m disappointed and concerned,” Shapiro said. “And not just because of the last three days. All that did was bring to a head things we were evaluating for a period of time.”

Things need to be fixed in the bullpen, and Shapiro is looking at a number of options. Mota has already lost his set-up job, and Graves is probably the most vulnerable regarding his spot on the roster.

Many of us thought Shipiro did a great job in the offseason in filling some of the holes left by Kevin Millwood and Bob Howry. I still think he made the right call not resigning those guys because the price was way too high, but the other moves have not worked well so far. Paying $14 for Paul Byrd appears to be the biggest mistake so far. Let’s hope that changes.

Fortunately, this team is loaded with young arms, and it looks like Shapiro might be willing to give them a chance.

The Indians sure aren’t playing good baseball and may have hit their lowest point of the season Wednesday afternoon. For a team that is expected to be a playoff contender this season, getting swept by one of the worst teams in the league shouldn’t even be an option. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened as the Indians lost to the Royals 10-8, completing a three-game sweep. Despite another poor start by Jake Westbrook, in which he gave up seven earned runs in 5 2/3 innings, the Tribe was still in the game in the eighth. They fought back to tie it at eight until the bottom of the inning when Aaron Guiel and Angel Berroa put the Royals up by two with two home runs off Guillermo Mota. Jhonny Peralta and Casey Blake both homered for the Tribe in the ballgame but once again the pitching was not there. Royals starter Scott Elarton did not pitch particularly well against his former mates but was able to smile at the end of the day.

“We’ve all got to fight through this and stay strong mentally,” Wedge said. “We’ve got to make adjustments on the mound.”

This is getting a little ridiculous. Maybe they should start holding pitching tryouts at the Jake. Thank God the Indians have an off day tomorrow to possibly take a step back and collect their thoughts.

The Royals sure are giving the Tribe fits this season. The Indians lost their fourth game in a row to the Royals out of five meetings this season. The Tribe held leads of 2-0, 4-2, and 6-4 in the ballgame but ran into a rough sixth inning where Kansas City put up six on the board behind catcher John Buck’s three-run homer. Starter Jason Johnson left in the sixth with the lead but Danny Graves promptly gave up the bomb to put the Royals ahead as they went on to win 10-7 at Kauffman Stadium. Victor Martinez, Travis Hafner and Aaron Boone each had two RBI for the Indians.

This is a little frustrating to say the least. Almost half of the Royals’ wins this season have come against the Tribe. I think it’s time that we cut the string with Graves and bring up a young arm like Carmona or Andrew Brown to take his place in the bullpen. Yes, he’s a veteran and people may say “give him time” but it really doesn’t look like he has anything left in the tank.