CLEVELAND – The Indians thought they were beginning the lighter side of their second-half schedule with a visit to Progressive Field from Baltimore, the worst team in baseball.

But the wrong Orioles club arrived.

The Indians were served notice of as much Tuesday night, with Baltimore bludgeoning them 14-8 behind an offensive onslaught that included 13 hits and four home runs.

The Orioles are playing as well as any team in the majors now that Buck Showalter has arrived, winning for the seventh time in the new manager’s first eight games.

The Indians have dropped three straight and four of their last five games. They are 3-8 over their last 11 games at home.

“It’s unfortunate,” said Cleveland’s starting pitcher Justin Masterson. “You look up and see how many runs we scored, and we still didn’t win. We’re all trying to put the pieces together but sometimes the puzzle doesn’t get put together the way you want it.”

Cleveland’s offense was up to the task early, scoring six runs through the first four innings, including five in the fourth to take a 6-4 lead. But it got no help from the pitching department, beginning with Masterson, who offered up another disappointing effort.

The right-hander allowed seven runs (four earned) on six hits and three walks over five innings to fall to 4-11 with a 5.47 ERA in 23 starts.

“We scored enough runs to win the ballgame,” said manager Manny Acta, who actually defended Masterson, claiming Cleveland’s defense, which committed an error and failed to turn what Acta felt was a pair of routine double plays, let the pitcher down.

One of the double-play opportunities Acta was alluding to arrived in a pivotal fifth-inning that saw Baltimore take the lead for good.

With a runner on first and one out, Masterson got a ground ball to second baseman Jason Donald, but the Indians couldn’t turn two. Masterson walked the next batter before serving up a three-run homer to Felix Pie, who put Baltimore in front 7-6.

“It’s disappointing,” Masterson said. “You feel like you want to hold the lead for your team and you let everybody down.”

It didn’t get any better for the Indians once Masterson was gone, with three relievers – Tony Sipp, Frank Herrmann and Hector Ambriz – each allowing at least a run over the final four innings.

Sipp served up a solo shot to Corey Patterson to lead off the sixth, giving the Orioles an 8-5 advantage.

Herrmann followed by allowing five runs over 1 2/3 innings. The right-hander allowed the first four Orioles hitters in the eighth to hit for the cycle – Pie leading off with a double, followed by a two-run homer from Matt Wieters, a triple from Patterson and an RBI single from Cesar Izturis.

Ambriz allowed Herrman’s final two runs and one of his own in the eighth on a three-run homer from former Cleveland minor league Luke Scott.

Cleveland scored the first run of the game in the third, then after the outburst in the fourth didn’t score again until Michael Brantley’s two-run homer in the ninth inning.

It was a rare win for the Orioles in Cleveland, with Baltimore entering the night owning an 18-46 record at Jacobs/Progressive Field.

The Indians are likely to make a move today to add bullpen assistance from the minor leagues.

Starting pitcher David Huff, who has not pitched well in two starts since being recalled from Triple-A Columbus, might be on the way out again. The left-hander was called into Acta’s office after the game but no official word was given.

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

Poor pitching from the Indians paved the way for a 14-8 loss to the Orioles on Tuesday night at Progressive Field.

The Orioles, who hit four home runs on the night, improved to 7-1 under new manager Buck Showalter.

Cleveland’s Justin Masterson took the loss, allowing seven runs (four earned) over five innings.

CLEVELAND – Odds are good that Mitch Talbot (mid-back strain) will return to the rotation Saturday. The rookie right-hander worked a three-inning rehab outing at Class A Mahoning Valley without incident Monday, allowing a run on two hits and a walk over three innings.

“Everything went well,” said Indians manager Manny Acta, who indicated that Talbot would start Saturday against the Mariners if he checked out well with the club’s medical staff following Tuesday night’s game. It is the same day Talbot is eligible to leave the disabled list.

Talbot is 8-9 with a 4.09 ERA in 25 starts of his first season as a fulltime member of a big league rotation.

In other injury news:

(bullet) According to Acta, designated hitter Travis Hafner (right shoulder inflammation) is “a couple days” away from swinging a bat. Acta said Hafner would need two positive rounds of batting practice before the Indians decide whether to activate him from the injured list or send him on a rehab assignment. Hafner has been sidelined since July 29.

(bullet) Left-hander Aaron Laffey (left shoulder fatigue) pitched his first bullpen session Tuesday, and according to Acta, will throw another one in “a couple days.” Acta said the Indians are still deciding whether to bring Laffey — 2-3, 4.62 ERA in 25 games (five starts) — back as a starter or reliever, but it sounds as though they are leaning towards the bullpen.

(bullet) Right-hander Anthony Reyes (right elbow surgery) will resume his rehab assignment with Double-A Akron today.

Finish line

Though the Indians are past the toughest part of their second-half schedule, Acta isn’t expecting a let down from his club, which entered Tuesday 13-11 since the all-star break – all of the games coming against teams above .500 at the time.

“I’m not anticipating that, because we have so many young guys trying to prove themselves,” he said. “There’s only a few spots that are secure (for next year). Whoever doesn’t go hard, somebody else will go in there.”

Cleveland has 49 games left in the regular season, 28 against teams with sub-.500 records.

Six-pack

Acta said he would not consider going with a six-man rotation, but that a sixth pitcher could make spots starts for Talbot and Justin Masterson, who are nearing innings limits.

Right elbow problems limited Talbot, who has already logged 121 innings this season, to just 68 1/3 innings last year with the Rays – none on the big league level. Masterson has worked 128 1/3 innings this year after pitching 129 1/3 innings out of Boston’s bullpen and Cleveland’s rotation in 2009.

“I think we need to finish the month and see where they’re at,” Acta said.

Acta said the Indians could avoid shutting down Talbot and Masterson for the season if someone fills in for them on occasion over the remainder of the year.

Minor detail

The Indians acquired Luke Carlin from the Pirates for a player to be named, assigning the catcher to Triple-A Columbus. Carlin, 29, has spent the entire season at Triple-A Indianapolis, batting .239 with two homers and 23 RBIs in 63 games. He has played in 46 major league games with San Diego (2008) and Arizona (2009).

Draft days

The Indians signed their first top-five draft pick, agreeing to terms with fifth-round selection Cole Cook, a RHP out of Pepperdine University, who was a unanimous All-West Coast Conference pick for the second straight year as a sophomore. Cleveland also signed 22^nd-round selection Nate Striz, a RHP out of the University of North Carolina.

The Indians have signed 18 of their 50 draft choices, including 10 of their top 18, but have yet to agree with first-round pick (fifth overall) Drew Pomeranz, a LHP out of the University of Mississippi.

The deadline to sign draft picks is midnight on Monday.

Roundin’ third

At 21-20, the Indians entered Tuesday as one of just two teams in the Central Division sporting winning records within the division. The Twins (29-16) are the other club, not the White Sox (20-21), who were tied with Minnesota atop the division standings through Monday. … Jeff Datz, who served as a coach on the Indians’ major league staff for eight seasons from 2002-09, is in his first year as the Orioles’ bench coach, the position he held under former manager Eric Wedge over his last three seasons in Cleveland. … Tonight, 7:05, STO/WTAM 1100-AM/WEOL 930-AM. Tomlin (1-1, 2.79) vs. Bergesen (3-9, 6.26).

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

CLEVELAND — It’s hard to imagine for a last-place team that has been wrecked by injuries, traded off a host of veterans and now employs the youngest roster in the majors, but the toughest part might be over.

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The Indians opened the second half with a testing stretch of 24 games against teams with winning records, including American League East Division heavyweights New York, Tampa Bay and Boston. Next up to finish the year are 50 games, 29 against clubs with sub-.500 records.

Putting an even more positive projection on the remainder of the regular season is that these little Indians have held their own since the All-Star break, going 13-11.

“I’m extremely happy with the way things have gone,” said manager Manny Acta. “We were really worried before the second half started about throwing these kids against big-time ballclubs with winning records. They stepped up. We survived that stretch.

“We’re starting a lighter side of the schedule. It’s baseball, still. That doesn’t mean it’s going to get any easier. But I felt that playing all those guys from the East (Division) and the Twins and the Tigers, that these kids probably had a hard time ahead of them.”

Who could blame him?

Already playing for the future with eight rookies on the roster (two others, Mitch Talbot and Carlos Santana, are on the disabled list), the Indians kicked off the second half with a pair of three-game series against Central Division rivals Detroit and Minnesota. Both teams were still in contention, the Tigers falling off the pace as of late.

Visits from the Rays and Yankees followed, New York in town with Alex Rodriguez in pursuit of his 600th home run.

Another pair of East tests came in a three-game series against Toronto, which leads the majors in home runs and slugging percentage, and a trip to Fenway Park for four games against the always formidable Red Sox.

The Indians wrapped up the 24-games-in-24-days marathon Sunday in the finale of a three-game series against the Twins, who entered Monday a half game behind the first-place White Sox.

“You look at that schedule, it’s a tough one, but tough schedules are a lot of fun because you get to play teams in contention,” Indians outfielder Shelley Duncan said. “When you play teams that are in contention and fighting for division titles, it’s more intense. It raises the level of your game. You should always play like that, but it’s just human nature.

“I think we wanted to have a good push after the All-Star break for ourselves. It’s been a lot of fun.”

Though they won’t be facing the same top-flight competition, Acta thinks his young club will benefit from the tough test to start the second half over the final two months of the season.

“It should help them,” he said. “I know that they just show up and play hard and probably don’t pay attention to that. But we do appreciate what they’ve done and realize that they really stepped up. I’m very pleased with how we’ve played since the second half started.”

Huffed stuffed?

David Huff is quickly working his way into Acta’s doghouse.

The left-hander, who began the season in the rotation, angered the Indians with an ill-fated Tweet, and, Sunday scoffed at Acta’s assessment of his performance.

Dismal results almost every time Huff (2-11, 6.21 ERA) has taken the mound for Cleveland this year haven’t done much to endear himself to his new manager, either.

“I still don’t see the fastball command, that’s the No. 1 thing,” Acta said. “As a kid, for him, he’s going to have to command the fastball, because that’s what makes your secondary pitches effective.”

A lack of command has left Huff behind in the count on too many occasions, leading to predictable results, according to Acta.

“That’s the reason why you don’t see bloops or anything like that,” said Acta of Huff, who has allowed 14 homers in 15 starts (79 2/3), while walking 34 and striking out 37. “They hit him hard because of that. Major league hitters, when they’re ahead in the count, become a lot better than they actually are.”

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