Indians Swept By ChiSox
07-01-2009 10:14 pm

 It was back to the drawing board for Jeremy Sowers and another night in the loss column for the reeling Indians on Wednesday night.

Sowers was strong early but gave up a combined five runs in the fifth and sixth innings, and the Indians' offense was once again quiet in a 6-2 loss and a series sweep at the hands of the White Sox at Progressive Field. The Indians have now lost 14 of their last 17 games.

Sowers didn't get much help from an offense that scored just two runs on five hits over eight innings against right-hander Jose Contreras. The first of those runs gave the Indians a 1-0 lead in the third, when they manufactured a run after a single from Jamey Carroll and a double from Ben Francisco. But that lead was short-lived.

After holding the Sox scoreless on three hits for the game's first four innings, Sowers blinked in the fifth. He gave up a one-out double to Gordon Beckham and an RBI single to Alexei Ramirez.

Tied at 1, the game fell out of reach for the Tribe in the sixth, which was Sowers' final inning of work. After singles by Jim Thome and Paul Konerko, Ramon Castro belted a three-run homer to right. Jayson Nix followed with a double, and Beckham knocked him in with a single to make it 5-1.

Sowers had shown marked improvement against the Reds in his last start, working into the eighth for the first time this year. But he couldn't keep that success going in this start, and the Indians, punchless at the plate yet again, could not recover.