CLEVELAND – The standings say the Indians are far from out of the race for a Central Division title, but the team assembled Sunday at Progressive Field didn’t look like one itching to chase down the Tigers anytime soon.

With a chance to sweep the last-place Royals while gaining ground on first-place Detroit, the Indians instead limped to a lethargic and inopportune 2-1 loss that kept their division deficit at 6 ½ games.

What’s worse, thanks to a White Sox win, the Indians have slipped into third place for the first time all year, trailing Chicago by a half-game.

Once again, it was an inefficient performance from an injury-derailed offense at the root of defeat for Cleveland, which despite taking the first two games of the series, has dropped seven of its last 10.

The offensive ineptness reached its low early when the Indians left the bases loaded with no outs against journeyman Kansas City starter Bruce Chen, who had already walked in the first run of the game.

“Our first inning basically killed us,” Cleveland manager Manny Acta said. “We let him off the hook right there. After the first four hitters, I don’t think we had the right approach against him. He recognized that and started changing speeds and mixing pitches in and out.

“It’s on us, letting him off the hook in the first inning.”

The Indians didn’t do much better over the next eight innings, failing to muster a hit after the third while helping starting pitcher Justin Masterson to another tough-luck defeat – his first since July 24.

Masterson (10-8, 2.83 ERA) allowed all of his runs (two) and hits (nine) within the first four innings. He lasted six, striking out three and walking two.

While it wasn’t Masterson’s best effort, the right-hander was still able to hold the opposition to two runs or fewer for the 21st time in 28 starts. Meanwhile, the Indians have scored two runs or fewer in 11 of his outings. They’ve scored one or been shut out in seven of them.

“My command was just a little bit off (early),” Masterson said. “But in the end, we kept it close and gave the team a chance to win like we’ve done so many times before.

“The stuff wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t terrible. That’s why we were able to make pitches.”

Facing a struggling Cleveland lineup, Chen was able to make more.

After allowing two-out singles in both the second and third innings, the right-hander, who has pitched for 10 teams in 13 big league seasons, permitted just two more baserunners over his final 41⁄3 innings – one on a walk in the fifth and the other on an error in the eighth.

“A lot of people don’t give him enough credit,” said designated hitter Shelley Duncan, who popped put for the first out in the opening inning before Kosuke Fukudome hit into an inning-ending pitcher-to-catcher-to-first double play. “You feel like you should hit him, but he changes the pace and the rhythm and he’s always around the plate.

“It seems like the older he gets, the craftier he gets. It’s frustrating.”

Frustration is setting in for the Indians, who were baseball’s most surprising story with the majors’ best record for nearly the entire first two months of the season. It’s been a downhill slide since with Cleveland going 35-50 since May 24 to lose 13½ games in the standings.

The Indians have lost five games to Detroit since Aug. 18, but still consider themselves a contender, with six more games against the Tigers before the season is complete, including the final three of the year.

“They know it’s only 6½ games with a month left,” Acta said of his players.

“We talk to them about how much things can change in a week. It happened to us. We were up a half game and then it was 6½.”

“We still have six games against Detroit,” Masterson said. “That keeps it right there within the grasp. We won the series and that’s what we’re trying to do. Detroit’s been hot, but we’re a team that can stay right there.”

For how long?

Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Fan him on Facebook  and follow him on Twitter.

TONIGHT

• WHO: Cleveland vs. Oakland
• TIME: 7:05
• WHERE: Progressive Field
• PITCHERS: Huff (1-2, 2.70 ERA) vs. McCarthy (7-6, 3.72)
• TV/RADIO: SportsTime Ohio; WEOL 930-AM, WTAM 1100-AM