CLEVELAND — This is no way to prepare for a lengthy inter-league road trip.

With nine games on tap in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Cincinnati, the Indians geared up Thursday night by dropping a 6-4 decision to the Mets at Pro­gressive Field, which clinched a series sweep for New York.

Once again, an early deficit was too much to overcome for the Indians, who lost for the fourth straight time to a red-­hot Mets team that has won seven in a row and is 18-5 since May 22 — the majors’ best record over the span.

“We ran into a hot team,” said Cleveland manager Manny Acta. “Regardless of what they hit — hard, soft — it fell in and we just couldn’t keep up.”

The Indians found them­selves in the early quandary thanks to a rough opening inning from Jake Westbrook, who allowed three runs on six hits — all singles — in the first. Westbrook wasn’t at his best, walking the leadoff batter in the fourth and allowing two more runs that put the Mets in front 5-2. But the right-hander was still able to give the Indi­ans seven surprising innings.

He allowed the five runs on 11 hits, while striking out five and walking a pair.

More photos below.

“I made some decent pitches but they were definitely hot,” Westbrook said. “They definitely found ways to get hits and score some runs.

“I didn’t pitch well in the first and the leadoff walk in the fourth hurt us real bad.”

The Indians were unable to hand Mets starter R.A. Dickey his first loss of the season, scoring three times (two earned runs) off the right-handed knuckleballer on seven hits over six innings. Dickey (5-0, 2.82 ERA in six starts) struck out seven and walked two.

“The guys couldn’t do much with Dickey,” Acta said. “That knuckleball is a hard pitch to hit.”

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Cleveland pulled to within two runs in the fifth inning on a grounder from Travis Hafner, but it could have been more. Shin-Soo Choo singled to lead off the inning and moved to third on a double from Carlos Santana.

Hafner scored Choo before Austin Kearns and Russell Branyan struck out in succession.

Another Hafner grounder scored a run in the seventh, as the Indians got within a run. But New York scored again in the eighth on Jose Reyes’ triple off reliever Chris Perez.

“We did a good job of battling all night,” Westbrook said. “We just weren’t able to get it done.”

The 11 hits allowed by Westbrook accounted for a season high for the veteran and the most that he has surrendered since the Tigers got 12 in 2007. He is 4-2 with a 4.19 ERA in eight starts since May 11.

Santana’s two doubles accounted for Cleveland’s extra-base hit total.

It was the third time in history the Mets and Indians met, and New York’s first sweep. The Mets took two of three from Cleveland in 2002 and ’04.

The Mets improved to 8-1 in interleague play this season, while the Indians fell to 3-6.

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

CLEVELAND – Is there an issue with the pitcher’s mound at Progressive Field? The Indians don’t think so, but they might get an argument from some of their opponents.

For the second time in a week, an opposing pitcher – Wednesday’s Mets starter Jon Niese — complained about the mound, ushering Cleveland’s grounds crew on the field to repair his front-foot landing area.

In the series finale with Washington on Sunday, Nationals phenom Stephen Strasburg had similar issues, calling the grounds crew onto the field for assistance on two separate occasions.

It’s enough to make grounds crew chief Brandon Koehnke’s head spin.  

“I think it’s an individual thing,” said Indians manager Manny Acta. “We haven’t had any of our guys stop the game and complain about it. I think our grounds crew has done a tremendous job. It may be that some guys just have longer strides than other guys.”

Left-hander David Huff, Strasburg’s counterpart Sunday, also went to bat for the grounds crew when asked if he had a problem with the mound.

“Absolutely not,” Huff said. “I think we have one of the best grounds crews in baseball. You’d have to ask (Strasburg). I don’t what his problem was.”

But Mitch Talbot, who started against Niese on Wednesday, had a different take.

“It’s kind of weird, but if a guy’s not feeling comfortable (on the mound), I don’t blame him,” Talbot said. “I probably would have done the same thing.”

First and foremost

Trevor Crowe missed his second straight game with a bruised right knee, but Acta said the center fielder was available to pinch hit and that he anticipated him returning to the lineup tonight.

Austin Kearns played center for the second straight night, while shortstop Jason Donald hit leadoff. Donald is one of five different players to bat in the first spot for the Indians this season.

“Our leadoff options (Asdrubal Cabrera and Grady Sizemore) are on the DL and Crowe follows them and he’s not in the lineup,” Acta said. “So, basically, that’s what it is. It’s tough to find a team that is five-deep in the leadoff spot.”

Pronk-less point

Acta confirmed that Travis Hafner would not play first base in Cleveland’s upcoming interleague road games, meaning the designated hitter will be relegated to a pinch-hitting role over the next nine games.

“It would be unfair to try to give him a million ground balls over there to get him ready,” said Acta of Hafner, who has not taken fielding practice at first all season, nor played there in a big league game since 2007. “He hasn’t worked at first base and he’s coming back from that shoulder surgery.”

Acta said he would make an effort to keep Hafner’s timing down in the National League parks.

“What we’re going to try to do is get him an at-bat every single day,” Acta said.  

Perfect practice

In preparation for the interleague road games, Indians pitchers and infielders practiced bunt situations prior to Thursday’s game.

“I just want to make sure guys are aware that we are going to be playing in the National League and we’re going to see a lot of bunt plays,” Acta said.

The Indians didn’t handle bunt situations well in the series opener with the Mets on Tuesday, failing to cover first on one bunt and committing an error on another.

Next up

The Indians start a nine-game interleague road swing with a three-game series in Pittsburgh that begins tonight at 7:05.

Fausto Carmona (5-5, 3.23 ERA) opens the set for Cleveland, opposing LHP Paul Maholm (4-4, 3.63).

Huff (2-8, 5.82) will go for the Indians on Saturday (7:05 p.m.) against RHP Jeff Karstens (1-2, 4.50), while Justin Masterson (2-6, 5.02) starts Sunday (1:35 p.m.), the Pirates countering with RHP Brad Lincoln (0-1, 7.50).

Minor details

The Indians’ minor-league affiliates owned the second-best record in baseball (160-119) through Wednesday, trailing only San Francisco (168-113). Entering Thursday, Cleveland and Seattle were the only big league teams with all of their minor-league affiliates sporting records above .500.  

Roundin’ third

The Indians signed their 12^th-round draft pick, Tyler Cannon, a shortstop out of the University of Virginia. They also signed non-drafted free agent Casey Gaynor, a RHP out of Rutgers. Cleveland has signed 10 of their 50 draft picks but none of its top 10 selections. … Tonight, 7:05, STO/WTAM 1100-AM/WEOL 930-AM.

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

CLEVELAND – This is no way to prepare for a lengthy interleague road trip.

With nine games on tap in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Cincinnati, the Indians geared up Thursday night by dropping a 6-4 decision to the Mets at Progressive Field, which clinched a series sweep for New York.

Once again, an early deficit was too much to overcome for the Indians, who lost for the fourth straight time to a red-hot Mets team that has won seven in a row and is 18-5 since May 22 – the majors’ best record over the span.

“We ran into a hot team,” said Cleveland manager Manny Acta. “Regardless of what they hit, hard, soft, it fell in and we just couldn’t keep up.”

The Indians found themselves in the early quandary thanks to a rough opening inning from starting pitcher Jake Westbrook, who allowed three runs on six hits – all singles – in the first.

Westbrook wasn’t at his best, allowing two more runs in the fourth after walking the leadoff batter that put the Mets in front 5-2, but the right-hander was still able to give the Indians seven surprising innings.

He allowed the five runs on 11 hits, while striking out five and walking a pair.

“I made some decent pitches but they were definitely hot,” Westbrook said. “They definitely found ways to get hits and score some runs.

“I didn’t pitch well in the first and the leadoff walk in the fourth hurt us real bad.”

The Indians were unable to hand Mets starter R.A. Dickey his first loss of the season, scoring three times (two earned runs) off the right-handed knuckleballer on seven hits over six innings. Dickey (5-0, 2.82 ERA in six starts) struck out seven and walked two.

“The guys couldn’t do much with Dickey,” Acta said. “That knuckleball is a hard pitch to hit.”

Cleveland pulled to within two runs in the fifth inning on a grounder from Travis Hafner, but it could have been more, with Shin-Soo Choo singling to lead off the inning and moving to third on a double from Carlos Santana.

Hafner scored Choo before Austin Kearns and Russell Branyan struck out in succession.

Another Hafner grounder scored a run in the seventh, as the Indians got within a run, but New York scored again in the eighth on Jose Reyes’ triple off reliever Chris Perez.

“We did a good job of battling all night,” Westbrook said. “We just weren’t able to get it done.”

The 11 hits allowed by Westbrook accounted for a season-high for the veteran and the most that he has surrendered since he gave up 12 against the Tigers in 2007. He is 4-2 with a 4.19 ERA in eight starts since May 11.  

Santana’s two doubles accounted for Cleveland’s extra-base hit total.

It was the third time in history that the Mets and Indians have met, New York sweeping the three-game series for the first time. The Mets took two of three from Cleveland in 2002 and 2004.

The Mets improved to 8-1 in interleague play this season, while the Indians fell to 3-6.

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

CLEVELAND — Mitch Talbot didn’t walk a batter Wednesday night, tossing 63 of his 95 pitches for strikes.

Maybe he should have thrown more balls.

With his pitches finding too much of the plate on too many occasions, Talbot was battered around the ballpark, paving the way for the Indi­ans’ 8-4 loss to the Mets, who tied a National League record with four consecutive doubles in one inning.

Talbot, who came in bidding for his team-lead­ing eighth victory of the season, instead took his fifth loss, allowing season highs in the runs (eight) and hits (13) departments over just 5 2 / 3 innings.

“Mitch started the game real good and then just lost command of his fastball,” said Cleveland manager Manny Acta, whose last-place team has dropped three straight. “He just couldn’t com­mand his fastball all night.”

Talbot began his outing with two scoreless innings before running into big trouble in the third.

More photos below.

After retiring the first batter of the inning, the right-hander allowed six consecutive hits, the last four doubles, as the Mets took control with a five-run third.

New York tied a season-high with seven doubles on the night — six off Talbot.

Talbot bounced back to work two more score­less innings, but he never made it out of the sixth, New York stringing together three hits to start the inning and chasing him with three more runs.

“It was just one of those nights when I couldn’t get the ball to go to anyone,” Talbot said. “I can think of a couple that I left it right there for them to hit.”

Talbot had other factors than Mets hitters working against him.

He and Dominican catcher Carlos Santana had problems with signs when a runner was on second base, something that occurred quite often on this night. At one point, Acta had to go to the mound to iron things out between the pitcher and catcher.

“We had a couple sign mishaps,” Talbot said. “We weren’t really on the same page but we got it taken care of. It hurt a couple times.”

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Left fielder Shelley Duncan, who hasn’t had a lot of experi­ence patrolling the outfield at Progressive Field, also didn’t do Talbot any favors, misplay­ing two of the Mets’ doubles in the third — one that bounced off the wall and got by him on the ricochet.

“We didn’t sign Shelley because we thought he would win a Gold Glove,” Acta said. “We signed him for his bat. We can’t be blaming people for playing balls off the wall. You’ve got to get groundballs or balls that don’t go off the wall if you want to win.”

Duncan made amends by driving in Cleveland’s first two runs on a home run in the fourth off Mets starter Jon Niese. It was the ninth time in 10 games that the power-chal­lenged Indians have gone deep.

Duncan’s long ball accounted for two of the three runs the Indians managed against Niese, who allowed eight hits over seven innings. Cleveland’s other run off the left-hander came on a single in the fifth from Santana, who slid past second base after trying to stretch a double and was tagged out.

Talbot is the first Indians pitcher to allow 13 hits or more since Jake Westbrook surrendered the same in a 7-6 win over Boston in 2006. He is the first Cleveland pitcher to allow six doubles in one start since Chad Ogea in a 4-1 loss to the Red Sox in 1994.

The Indians have caught the Mets at a bad time. New York has won six straight games and is 17-5 since May 22, accounting for the best record in the majors over the span.

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