CLEVELAND — As of now, strug­gling right-hander Justin Masterson (0-5, 6.13 ERA) remains in the Indi­ans rotation.

“We’re still evaluating the situa­tion and the choices that we have,” said man­ager Manny Acta. “We haven’t given it much thought.”

Masterson, Cleve­land’s third starter, was the loser in a 7-2 defeat to the White Sox on Monday, allowing five runs on nine hits over just four innings. It was his 11th straight defeat dating back to last year, with Masterson winning just once in 19 starts since joining the Cleveland rotation in 2009.

“Regardless of the struggles, he’s the only guy in our rotation that strikes guys out,” said Acta of Mas­terson, who has fanned 46 batters in nine starts (47 innings), an average of 8.8 per nine innings (eighth-best among American League starters).

His high strikeout and low home run (four) totals, coupled with his inability to handle left-handed hit­ters (.386 average), seem to make Masterson a better fit in the bullpen, where he spent the major­ity of his tenure with Boston before arriving in a trade last year for Vic­tor Martinez.

But the Indians valued Masterson more as a starter and Acta agreed with the decision.

“I liked what I saw in spring train­ing,” Acta said. “With all the talk about Jake (Westbrook) and Fausto (Carmona) coming back, I felt like he could be the dark horse in our rotation. Unfortunately, it hasn’t translated into that.

“You can’t ignore the fact that he can be tough when he has com­mand of his pitches.” Should the Indians choose to return Masterson to the bullpen, the most likely replacement would be reliever Aaron Laffey (0-1, 3.70 ERA), who has made 44 starts for Cleve­land over the past three seasons.

Still waiting

Acta provided no update on injured center fielder Grady Sizemore (deep bone bruise left knee), just that he continues to visit doctors in pursuit of the best course of treatment. Surgery remains an option for Sizemore, who has been sidelined since May 17.

“Anytime an injury like that involves any of your players, you have to be worried about it,” Acta said. “Hopefully, the doctors don’t find it as serious as people think it is.”

Acta said he expects head trainer Lonnie Soloff to provide an update on Sizemore later this week.

Draft days

The Indians own the fifth overall selection in the draft (June 7-9), their highest pick since taking former reliever Paul Shuey with the second overall choice in 1992. Cleveland also owns the 55th (second round) and 87th (third round) picks.

“Obviously, we understand the importance of the first-round pick,” said director of amateur scouting Brad Grant. “We do feel like this year’s draft is a deep draft, and it’s our job to infuse as much talent as we can into this organization. Major league talent comes all through the draft.”

Grant said the strength of the draft is pitching, namely high school right­handers, but the Indians won’t necessarily zero in on that talent pool with their first pick. Money won’t be an issue, as it has been with the low-budget team in the past.

“We’re going to take the best player available,” Grant said. “Everybody’s going to be in play for us this year.”

Baseball America’s mock draft has the Indians taking either University of Arkansas third baseman Zack Cox or Florida Gulf Coast University LHP Chris Sale.

Former Cleveland third baseman and current Class A Mahoning Valley manager Travis Fryman will represent the Indians at the draft in Secaucus, N.J.

Minor details

Triple-A Columbus catcher Carlos Santana entered Tuesday leading the International League with a .440 on-base percentage. He ranked third in the IL with 39 RBIs in 43 games through Monday.

◾ Advanced Class A Kinston played a 15-inning marathon Monday against Potomac, winning 10-6 on a grand slam from third baseman Kyle Bellows.

Roundin’ third

The Indians have rescheduled the postponed game against the Tigers on May 7 as the day game (1:05 p.m.) in a day-night doubleheader with Detroit on July 17. Fans can use their May 7 tickets for the day game or (prior to July 17) any other Indians game subject to availability.

◾ Catcher Lou Marson entered Tuesday having thrown out 10 of the 31 (32.3 percent) runners attempting to steal. He ranked second in the AL behind Baltimore’s Matt Wieters, 34.8 percent.

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

CLEVELAND – As of now, struggling right-hander Justin Masterson (0-5, 6.13 ERA) remains in the Indians’ rotation.

“We’re still evaluating the situation and the choices that we have,” said manager Manny Acta. “We haven’t given it much thought.”

Masterson, Cleveland’s third starter, was the loser in a 7-2 loss to the White Sox on Monday, allowing five runs on nine hits over just four innings. It was his 11^th straight defeat dating back to last year, with Masterson winning just once in 19 starts since joining the rotation in 2009.

“Regardless of the struggles, he’s the only guy in our rotation that strikes guys out,” said Acta of Masterson, who has fanned 46 batters in nine starts (47 innings), and 8.8 per nine innings (eighth-best among American League starters).

His high strikeout and low home run (4) totals, coupled with his inability to handle left-handed hitters (.386 average against), seem to make Masterson a better fit in the bullpen, where he spent the majority of his tenure with Boston before arriving in a trade last year for Victor Martinez.

But the Indians valued Masterson more as a starter and Acta agreed with the decision.

“I liked what I saw in spring training,” Acta said. “With all the talk about Jake (Westbrook) and Fausto (Carmona) coming back, I felt like he could be the dark horse in our rotation. Unfortunately, it hasn’t translated into that.

“You can’t ignore the fact that he can be tough when he has command of his pitches.”

Should the Indians choose to return Masterson to the bullpen, his most likely replacement would be reliever Aaron Laffey (0-1, 3.70 ERA), who has made 44 starts for Cleveland over the past three seasons.

Still waiting

Acta provided no update on injured centerfielder Grady Sizemore (deep bone bruise left knee), just that he continues to visit doctors in pursuit of the best course of treatment. Surgery remains an option for Sizemore, who has been sidelined since May 17.

“Anytime an injury like that involves any of your players, you have to be worried about it,” Acta said. “Hopefully, the doctors don’t find it as serious as people think it is.”

Acta said he expects head trainer Lonnie Soloff to provide an update on Sizemore later this week.

Draft days

The Indians own the fifth overall selection in the First-Year Player Draft (June 7-9), their highest pick since taking former reliever Paul Shuey with the second overall choice in 1992. Cleveland also owns the 55^th (second round) and 87^th (third round) overall picks.

“Obviously, we understand the importance of the first-round pick,” said director of amateur scouting Brad Grant. “We do feel like this year’s draft is a deep draft, and it’s our job to infuse as much talent as we can into this organization. Major league talent comes all through the draft.”

Grant said the strength of the draft is pitching, namely high school right-handers, but the Indians won’t necessarily zero in on that talent pool with their first pick. Money won’t be an issue, as it has been with the low-budget team in the past.  

“We’re going to take the best player available,” Grant said. “Everybody’s going to be in play for us this year.”

Baseball America’s mock draft has the Indians taking either University of Arkansas third baseman Zack Cox or Florida Gulf Coast University LHP Chris Sale.

Former Cleveland third baseman and current Class A Mahoning Valley manager, Travis Fryman, will represent the Indians at the draft in Secaucus, NJ.

Minor details

Triple-A Columbus catcher Carlos Santana entered Tuesday leading the International League with a .440 on-base percentage. He ranked third in the IL with 39 RBIs in 43 games through Monday. … Advanced Class A Kinston played a 15-inning marathon Monday against Potomac, winning 10-6 on a grand slam from third baseman Kyle Bellows in the 15^th.  

Roundin’ third

The Indians have rescheduled the postponed game against the Tigers on May 7 as the day game (1:05 p.m.) in a day/night doubleheader with Detroit on July 17. Fans can use their May 7 tickets for the day game or (prior to July 17) any other Indians game subject to availability. … Catcher Lou Marson entered Tuesday having thrown out 10 of the 31 (32.3 percent) runners attempting to steal off him. It ranked second in the AL behind Baltimore’s Matt Wieters’ 34.8 percent. … Today, 12:05, No television/WTAM 1100-AM/WEOL 930-AM. Jake Westbrook (2-2, 4.56) vs. Mark Buehrle (3-5, 4.55).

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

Mitch Talbot got his sixth win of the season and was backed by home runs from Jason Donald and Shin-Soo Choo to turn back the White Sox, 7-3, Tuesday night at Progressive Field.

Talbot won for the fifth time following an Indians’ loss.

Donald’s homer was the first of his major league career.

CLEVELAND — To quote the Little River Band: “Have you heard about the lonesome loser?” His name is Justin Masterson.

As has been the case for much of his time in the Indians’ rotation, Masterson was on the losing end Monday night at Progressive Field, offering up what might have been his worst performance of the year in a 7-2 loss to the White Sox. The right-hander allowed five runs on nine hits in just four innings of work, falling to 0-5 with a 6.13 ERA on the season.

It was Masterson’s 11th straight loss dating back to last season, which placed him among dubi­ous company in Cleveland pitch­ing lore. He joined four others — Guy Morton (13 in 1914), Rod Nichols (13, 1989-91), Steve Har­gan (11, 1971-72) and Fausto Car­mona (11, 2006-07) — to own los­ing streaks of 11 or more.

Since Masterson joined Cleve­land’s rotation after arriving in a trade with the Red Sox for Victor Martinez last year, he has won just once in a span of 19 starts.

“No, not really,” Masterson said when asked if the losing was weighing on him. “Just not pitch­ing as well as you’d like to, is what really gets on your mind. At times, it’s been some tough luck. At times, it’s them being good hit­ters, and other times it’s just me not pitching as well as I’d like to.”

On this occasion, it was the third choice, Masterson struggling with his command for the duration of his outing, especially in the opening inning, when he allowed four runs. During that fateful inning, Masterson allowed four hits, walked one and threw a wild pitch — the first of three on the night.

More photos below.

“Justin had poor command and he made us play catch-up baseball from inning one,” said manager Manny Acta, whose team dropped the series opener to the Sox after snapping a season- high six-game losing skid the day before.

Masterson’s hold on a rotation spot appears to be slipping away each time he takes the mound.

.

“We’ll see,” Acta said. “It’s not going to be a knee-jerk reaction after the game. As of now, he’s starting for us.”

If the Indians choose to move Masterson into the bullpen, the prime candidate to take his spot in the rotation would appear to be Aaron Laffey, who has started sporadically for Cleveland over the past three seasons.

Or as Acta put it: “Anybody who has an Indians uniform is an option.”

That would include members of the Triple-A Columbus rotation.

Masterson, who lasted just four innings for the third time this season, hasn’t gotten a lot of run support — the Indians entering Monday scoring 34 runs over 15 starts during his losing skid.

That was the case again, the Indians getting the majority of their offensive production from the last two hitters in the lineup — Lou Marson and Jason Donald, who combined to account for four of their club’s seven hits and one of its two RBIs.

The Indians struggled with runners in scoring position, going 1-for-12, while leaving 10 on base. Marson singled and Donald doubled to lead off the third, yet the Indians failed to score when Sox starter John Danks retired Trevor Crowe, Shin-Soo Choo and Austin Kearns in succession to end the inning.

“It’s nice to see the young kids step up and perform,” Acta said. “At the same time, you want it to be in a better way, winning a ballgame.

“We had an opportunity to get back in the game. I thought we had some good at-bats against Danks, but our situational hitting wasn’t very good.”

It was Chicago’s second win in seven games against the Indians this year, Cleveland going 5-11 against the rest of the Central Division.

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