Two times through the order? Much trickier.

Three times? Nearly impossible.

Such has been the story of pitcher Jeremy Sowers' season, and it continued again on Sunday. Sowers slowly succumbed to the Cubs' lineup, more so with each venture through the lineup, and the Indians lost, 6-2, at Wrigley Field for a three-game Interleague sweep.

Sowers made it through the first nine hitters relatively unscathed, surrendering a solo home run to Geovany Soto. On his second trip around, he allowed two hits, three walks and a run but still only trailed, 2-0.

He did not make it through the Cubs' lineup a third time.

"It doesn't go unnoticed," Sowers said. "I think it's more a product of the third time through the order's going to be harder than the second and the first because guys have seen your stuff, especially guys you've never pitched to before."

Sowers, who has struggled in seven starts this season, is seeing a noticeable difference in his performance as the game wears on. Entering Sunday's contest, opponents were batting .225 (20-for-89) off of him in the first four innings of a game. In the fifth and sixth innings, however, opponents had registered nearly as many hits (15) in 52 fewer at-bats (37), good for a .405 average.

"Obviously, sometimes when something like this happens time and time again, it can affect you a little bit," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "Hopefully it's just something he can work through. We know that he can be a pitcher. It's just a matter of being efficient and getting deep in the ballgame."

Sowers threw 77 pitches, 42 for strikes, allowing six runs on seven hits while walking four and striking out one. His ERA rose from 5.14 to 5.95.

The fifth inning, which proved to be Sowers' undoing, began ominously enough when Cubs pitcher Randy Wells -- who was 2-for-12 this season -- smacked a leadoff single up the right-field line. Alfonso Soriano followed with a single through the left side before Ryan Theriot moved both Wells and Soriano into scoring position with a bunt.

Sowers (1-5) faced four more batters. All reached base.

Milton Bradley got pegged by a pitch, loading the bases for Derrek Lee. Lee then whacked a single to left, matching a career high by extending his hitting streak to 18 games and scoring Wells to put the Cubs ahead, 3-0.

Sowers walked Soto, which scored Soriano. One pitch later, rookie Jake Fox doubled to dead center, plating both Bradley and Lee for a 6-0 advantage. That was enough to knock Sowers from the game and bring in Mike Gosling, the only reliever who had yet to pitch this weekend at Wrigley.

Sowers pinned some of his fifth-inning troubles on the fact that he had to hit in the top of the inning. Sowers had made just five plate appearances in his Major League career before Sunday's game but was forced into hitting duty in the National League ballpark.

"Obviously, I won't have to deal with hitting or any of that stuff anymore, which, if you've never done it before is quite an exhausting experience, as embarrassing as that sounds," Sowers said. "When you hit a ball and you run to first base, it kind of gets you a little bit. It's pathetic because it's a 30-yard sprint.

"Being the third batter in the inning in the top of the fifth and you make the last out, run the ball out, get in the dugout, to make that transition, it's tough if you're not used to it."

Following Sowers' departure, Gosling did a nice job of shutting down the Cubs and spelling the bullpen from further exertion. In the five games before Sunday's contest, the taxed Indians relief corps had pitched 23 innings, allowing 25 runs -- 23 of them earned. Indians reliever Jensen Lewis threw the final two innings, allowing no runs.

Gosling, making his first Major League appearance since Sept. 26, 2007, escaped a two-on, one-out jam in the fifth. He tossed 1 2/3 innings of shutout ball, allowing one hit and striking out two.

"I was happy I was able to come in and hold those guys from scoring," Gosling said. "As a reliever, that's your No. 1 priority -- get the first guy out you face and make sure you don't let inherited runners score. ... It was exciting to get in there, get my feet wet, and hopefully there will be a lot more appearances in an Indians uniform."

Cleveland did manage to snatch a run back in both the sixth and seventh innings.

Jamey Carroll led off the sixth with a triple to left field. Mark DeRosa then hit a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Carroll for the Tribe's first run.

And in the seventh, pinch-hitter Travis Hafner chopped a single over first base, scoring Luis Valbuena from third to trim the deficit to four.

But the initial six-run hole proved too much to overcome.

The Indians (29-42) lost their sixth consecutive game, but this was the first defeat by more than two runs during that stretch. They dropped 10 games behind the first-place Tigers in the American League Central.

"Obviously, we're not in a good situation," Carroll said. "It's no fun to get beat. We've lost some heartbreakers. It's not going to keep us from coming out and competing at all. All we can do is just keep coming out, and hopefully, when the situation comes, we can win games that we're supposed to and bounce back from days like today."