CLEVELAND — Third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall has located the light at the end of the tunnel.

Chisenhall, who has struggled for the majority of his debut season, is picking up the pace at the plate as of late, entering Monday batting .311 (14-for-45) with four home runs and 10 RBIs over his last 10 games.

“It takes some guys more time,” said manager Manny Acta of Cleveland’s first-round draft pick in 2008, who was batting .245 on the season with seven home runs and 18 RBIs in 58 games through Sunday. “He’s only 22 years old. Some people forget that he was at (Double-A) Akron last year.”

It has been a slow process for Chisenhall, who like many young left-handed hitters, has struggled against pitching from the same side — .220 (9-for-41). Acta predicts that will improve over time.

“I don’t foresee him struggling down the road against lefties,” Acta said. “We see him as a very good hitter down the road, period. He’s got a short, compact swing.”

Chisenhall has started hitting at an opportune time. The Indians envision him as their future third baseman, but need more offense than they got from the position this year.

Acta still thinks Chisenhall is the man for the job.

“He’s pretty confident in his ability, too, and that helps,” Acta said. “He’s got some learning and some adjustments to make, but it’s just a matter of time.”

Tomlin time

RHP Josh Tomlin (right elbow soreness) will pitch a simulated game today at Progressive Field, and according to Acta, could pitch in one of the games of a doubleheader against the Twins on Saturday.

Tomlin (12-7, 4.25 ERA) still leads the team in wins despite being sidelined since Aug. 26.

Back for more

As was expected, the Indians recalled RHP Zach McAllister from Triple-A Columbus to start the second game of a doubleheader today against the White Sox.

McAllister, 12-3 with a 3.32 ERA in 25 starts for the Clippers, will be making his third spot start of the season for Cleveland. He went 0-1 with a 12.27 ERA in the first two.

Acta was asked if McAllister was a candidate for the rotation next season.

“We need to see better than what we’ve seen,” he said.

Next up

The Indians continue the final homestand of the season with a four-game series against the White Sox that begins today with a day-night doubleheader.

Fausto Carmona (6-15, 5.26 ERA) pitches the first game of the doubleheader (1:05 p.m.) against RHP Gavin Floyd (12-11, 4.42), while McAllister (0-1, 12.27) starts Game 2 against RHP Dylan Axelrod (0-0, 2.25).

Ubaldo Jimenez (10-11, 4.49) starts for Cleveland on Wednesday (7:05 p.m.), Chicago countering with LHP Mark Buehrle (11-9, 3.74).

Jeanmar Gomez (4-2, 3.78) pitches the series finale Thursday (7:05 p.m.), while the White Sox counter with RHP Phil Humber (9-8, 3.59).

Minor details

• With its second straight International League title already secured, Columbus plays in the Triple-A national championship game tonight against Omaha in Albuquerque, N.M. Mitch Talbot (2-0, 1.69 ERA in two postseason outings) starts for the Clippers, who are the first of Cleveland’s top affiliates to win back-to-back IL titles since 1991-92.
• RHP Jason Rice cleared waivers and was outrighted to Columbus. Rice, whom the Indians originally claimed off waivers from Oakland, was designated for assignment when RHP Zach Putnam was promoted from Columbus and added to the 40-man roster.

Roundin’ third

• Carlos Santana and Shelley Duncan have been hot as of late. Santana entered Monday batting .333 (9-for-27) with four homers and eight RBIs over his last seven games. Duncan was batting .320 (16-for-50) with six homers and 14 RBIs in 15 September games through Sunday.

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

CLEVELAND — A makeup game against the Mariners lasted only seven innings at Progressive Field on Monday, and that was six too many as far as the Indians were concerned.

Relief pitcher Tony Sipp during yesterday's game. (AP photo.)

A somewhat substantial advantage after their first at-bat meant little in the end to the Indians, who dropped a 12-6 decision in a game that was played under constant rainfall and called after a brief delay prior to the start of the eighth inning.

Cleveland led 3-0 after the opening inning, but the advantage was erased and then some by a nine-run third from the Mariners, who sent the Indians to their fifth straight loss at home.

“It was an ugly day and a disappointing loss,” said Indians manager Manny Acta, whose second-place club leads the third-place White Sox by 1½ games in the Central Division standings.

It didn’t begin that way.

Consecutive home runs from Asdrubal Cabrera (two-run shot) and Carlos Santana off Seattle starter Charlie Furbush staked the Indians to the early lead, but after allowing two runs in the second, Cleveland starter David Huff completely unraveled in the third.

The left-hander never got out of the inning, allowing five runs and leaving two on for Chad Durbin, who walked the first batter he faced before surrendering a mammoth (estimated 455 feet) grand slam to Mike Carp into the first row of the second deck in right field.

“We gave David some runs to work with,” Acta said. “Unfortunately, he had a really rough day out there. It was kind of deflating and kind of sucked the energy out of us.”

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Huff worked a scoreless first inning before allowing a two-run homer in the second to Alex Liddi, who became the first Italian-born player since 1961 (Detroit’s Reno Bertoia) to hit a homer in the big leagues.

It was a foreshadowing of bad things to come.

“I think it was just stupid pitch selection,” Huff said of his poor performance. “I left some balls over the middle and they hit me pretty hard. All in all, it was really frustrating and I’m disappointed in myself.”

Huff, who joined the rotation in July, began his year looking like a different pitcher than the Indians have seen the past two seasons, going 2-2 with a 2.08 ERA over his first four outings. But he’s resembled the same old guy over his last five — 0-4 with a 7.11 ERA.

“It’s pretty much the same thing with him,” Acta said, “not being aggressive in the strike zone and not being able to put hitters away.”

Santana’s homer was his 26th of the season, which is the most ever by a Cleveland switch-hitter, surpassing Victor Martinez’s 25 in 2007. It has come in Santana’s first full season in the majors after his year was cut short by injury in 2010.

“A lot of switch-hitters have come and gone in this organization,” Acta said. “For this kid to come up and do it in his first year says a lot about him.”

“It’s exciting,” Santana said. “I never thought I would hit 25 or 26 homers. I’m really happy.”

After Santana followed Cabrera’s homer with one of his own, it appeared the Indians would make quick work of Furbush, who was making his 12th start of the season.

The left-hander allowed four of his six runs in the first two innings but found a groove for a bit and struck out six straight at one point. He wound up lasting five innings, but that’s not what beat the Indians.

“I think we did a good job against him,” Acta said. “We just let too many runs in.”

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

CLEVELAND — A makeup game against the Mariners lasted only seven innings at Progressive Field on Monday, and that was six too many as far as the Indians were concerned.

A somewhat substantial advantage after their first at-bat meant little in the end to the Indians, who dropped a 12-6 decision in a game that was played under constant rainfall and called after a brief delay prior to the start of the eighth inning.

Cleveland led 3-0 after the opening inning, but the advantage was erased and then some by a nine-run third from the Mariners, who sent the Indians to their fifth straight loss at home.

“It was an ugly day and a disappointing loss,” said Indians manager Manny Acta, whose second-place club leads the third-place White Sox by a 1 1/2 games in the Central Division standings.

It didn’t begin that way.

Consecutive home runs from Asdrubal Cabrera (two-run shot) and Carlos Santana off Seattle starter Charlie Furbush staked the Indians to the early lead, but after allowing two runs in the second, Cleveland starter David Huff completely unraveled in the third.

The left-hander never got out of the inning, allowing five runs and leaving two on for Chad Durbin, who walked the first batter he faced before surrendering a mammoth (estimated 455 feet) grand slam to Mike Carp into the first row of the second deck in right field.

“We gave David some runs to work with,” Acta said. “Unfortunately, he had a really rough day out there. It was kind of deflating and kind of sucked the energy out of us.”

Huff worked a scoreless first inning before allowing a two-run homer in the second to Alex Liddi, who became the first Italian-born player since 1961 (Detroit’s Reno Bertoia) to hit a homer in the big leagues. It was a foreshadow of bad things to come.

“I think it was just stupid pitch selection,” Huff said in explaining his poor performance. “I left some balls over the middle and they hit me pretty hard. All in all, it was really frustrating and I’m disappointed in myself.”

Huff, who joined the rotation in July, began his year looking like a different pitcher than the Indians have seen the past two seasons, going 2-2 with a 2.08 ERA over his first four outings. But he’s resembled the same old guy over his last five — 0-4 with a 7.11 ERA.

“It’s pretty much the same thing with him,” Acta said, “not being aggressive in the strike zone and not being able to put hitters away.”

Santana’s homer was his 26th of the season, which is the most ever by a Cleveland switch hitter, surpassing Victor Martinez’s 25 in 2007. It has come in Santana’s first full season in the majors after his year was cut short by injury in 2010.

“A lot of switch hitters have come and gone in this organization,” Acta said. “For this kid to come up and do it in his first year says a lot about him.”

“It’s exciting,” Santana said. “I never thought I would hit 25 or 26 homers. I’m really happy.”

After Santana followed Cabrera’s homer with one of his own, it appeared the Indians would make quick work of Furbush, who was making his 12th start of the season.

The left-hander allowed four of his six runs within the first two innings but found a groove for a bit that saw him strike out six straight at one point. He wound up lasting five innings, but that’s not what beat the Indians.

“I think we did a good job against him,” Acta said. “We just let too many runs in.”

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

The Indians dropped a 12-6 decision to the Mariners in a make-up game Monday afternoon at Progressive Field.

Cleveland led 3-0 after one inning but Seattle changed the outcome with a nine-run third inning that began off Indians starter David Huff.

Carlos Santana hit a home run in the first inning that gave him 26 on the season — the most ever by a Cleveland switch hitter.