CLEVELAND — Mitch Talbot couldn’t save the sinking ship this time.

Talbot, the Indians’ resident skid stopper, was off the mark Thursday afternoon at Progres­sive Field, and the home team suffered the consequences in a 9-3 drubbing from Kansas City.

Talbot entered the game with four of his five wins coming after a Cleveland loss, but he wasn’t able to turn the tide this time around, as the losing streak reached four games via a (two-game) sweep-clinching victory from the lowly Royals.

As a result, Kansas City moved up to fourth in the Central Divi­sion, while the Indians returned to last place.

“I just wasn’t throwing strikes pretty much the whole game,” said Talbot, who allowed six runs on eight hits over six innings.

“I let them sit there and wait for the fastball.”

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Talbot (5-3, 3.88 ERA) walked three and allowed all of his runs within the first three innings.

It was an ill-located fastball that led to the big blow of the game from Alberto Callaspo, who capped a four-run third inning with a three-run home run that put the Royals in front 6-1.

“It was a fastball over the plate,” Talbot said. “It was a good one to hit. I think I could’ve hit that one.”

Talbot was able to settle in after the third, holding the Royals hitless over his final three innings. “Mitch struggled with his command the first couple innings,” said Cleveland manager Manny Acta. “But he pitched six innings with our bullpen short, and he deserves credit for that.”

“I try to pull something good away from every start,” Talbot said. “That’s what I’m going to take from this one.”

Talbot didn’t pitch well, but he wasn’t the only one to blame for the latest loss — not with an offense that has been stuck in low gear all season. Cleveland managed just four hits off starter Luke Hochevar, who entered the game with a 5.86 ERA but was able to pitch his third career complete game. It was the right-hander’s first win since May 4 at Chicago.

The Indians scored once in the first on an RBI single from Travis Hafner, but didn’t cross the plate again until Jhonny Peralta hit a two-run homer in the sixth to pull his team within three runs.

The Royals tacked on three runs in the seventh off relievers Rafael Perez and Hector Ambriz, with Ambriz allowing a two-run homer to Jose Guillen.

The Indians had no answer from there.

“We continue to scuffle offensively,” Acta said. “It’s been a struggle. Our numbers don’t correlate well. We’re in the top three in strikeouts and at the bottom in home runs.

“It’s an offense that is not giving our guys much margin for error.”

The Indians were swept for the fourth time this season and have been swept in consecutive twogame series against Tampa Bay and Kansas City.

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