CLEVELAND — It wasn’t triumphant, but Grady Sizemore made his return Monday for the opening game of a pivotal series against the Tigers.

Sizemore

Sizemore, out since July 18 after sustaining a right knee contusion and undergoing sports hernia surgery, was activated from the disabled list and went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in the Indians’ 4-2 loss.

The oft-injured Sizemore could have used more minor league rehab time, but with the Indians still in the Central Division race, the potential lift he can provide was required for a depleted lineup.

“It’s exciting to have him back,” manager Manny Acta said. “We understand that in any other normal situation, he could probably use more time down there. But we’re not in any type of normal situation.

“He said that he was ready to go, and this was the best he was going to feel going forward.”

Sizemore played in three rehab games with Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus, going 4-for-11 with an RBI. He is hitting .233 with 10 home runs and 30 RBIs in 62 games for the Indians this season, landing on the DL three times already.

“I think I saw enough pitches down there,” Sizemore said. “It doesn’t matter how many games you play down there. It’s tough to simulate what it’s like up here.”

There were no instances in the field for Sizemore, who played center and hit leadoff, but he did look rusty at the plate, being thrust into a pennant race at a key spot in the lineup.

“It’s tough coming back no matter where you’re at in the season,” Sizemore said. “You haven’t played in games. But I felt good out there. There’s going to be an adjustment the first couple games, but my body felt good.”

Wounded Wahoos

• Designated hitter Travis Hafner took batting practice for the third straight day and is expected to test his ailing right foot with agility drills this week. The Indians feared Hafner was lost for the year but got encouraging news after a recent examination and expect him to return this season.
• Acta said he expects second baseman Jason Kipnis (right hamstring strain) to return sometime this week. Kipnis has been sidelined for close to a month.
• Shin-Soo Choo (left oblique strain) took batting practice but is still not eligible to leave the injured list until Monday.

Minor details

• Both Columbus and High-A Kinston will open their respective playoff series Wednesday. Columbus, which owns the International League’s best record (88-55 through Sunday) and won the West Division title, will begin its best-of-five series at Durham. Kinston, which clinched the Carolina League Southern Division second-half title Sunday (76-61), starts its best-of-five series at Myrtle Beach.

Roundin’ third

• Second baseman Jason Donald hit safely for the 10th time in 11 games, going 1-for-2 with a single and scoring the Indians’ first run in the fifth inning. Donald is batting .364 (16-for-44) with a homer and three RBIs over the span.
• Fans got some added entertainment with a number of the planes from the Cleveland National Air Show at Burke Lakefront Airport passing over Progressive Field.
• The Indians are offering $5 tickets tonight for all upper-deck seats.

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

CLEVELAND — The Indians had all the ingredients for a big win in a big game Monday afternoon, with a packed house at Progressive Field, their heralded right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez on the mound and center fielder Grady Sizemore off the disabled list and in the lineup.

Instead, they laid a big egg and took a big loss.

With 39,824 in attendance for the opener of a three-game series against the first-place Tigers, the lifeless Indians did little to energize the crowd, limping to a 4-2 loss.

The loss left Cleveland 7 1/2 games behind the Tigers in the Central Division standings with 24 games to play — the final three at Detroit’s Comerica Park.

“We’ve got enough games left but this is the only opportunity for us to really shave the lead,” said Cleveland manager Manny Acta, whose club is 6-7 against Detroit this season, losing the last five head-to-head matchups. “This is the opportunity we have. Who knows how far we’re going to be back at the end of the season.”

The loss was a tough one that was made tougher to take by former Indian Victor Martinez providing the heroics for the Tigers. Martinez’s three-run home run off Cleveland starter Ubaldo Jimenez in the fourth inning proved to be the game-winning hit.

One bad inning — really, one bad pitch to Martinez — spelled doom for Jimenez, whose outing began gloriously, with five strikeouts over the first seven batters.

Jimenez was sailing along, allowing just one baserunner before Delmon Young’s one-out single in the fourth.

A walk to cleanup hitter Miguel Cabrera followed before Martinez hammered a 2-2 fastball from Jimenez over the wall in right field for a 3-0 Detroit lead.

“I lost it a little bit,” Jimenez said of his fourth-inning effort.

He quickly found it again, retiring the last eight batters he faced after hitting Ramon Santiago with a pitch to start the fifth inning. Jimenez wound up allowing the three runs on two hits, while striking out eight over seven innings.

It was the first loss in four starts at home for Jimenez, who is 2-2 with a 5.27 ERA in seven starts since being acquired in a trade with the Rockies.

“I’m not going to sit here and complain about seven innings and two hits,” Acta said. “It’s a team effort and we need to score some runs to win.”

That was a tall order for the Indians against Detroit starter Doug Fister, who outpitched Jimenez, with Cleveland’s sagging lineup giving him an advantage.

Fister lasted an inning longer than Jimenez, allowing just an earned run on four hits and striking out a career-high 13 batters.

Acta gave credit to Fister, who allowed Cleveland’s first run to score on Grady Sizemore’s groundout in the fifth, and the other on a solo homer from Kosuke Fukudome in the eighth. But he also took credit away from his hitters, who managed four total hits to Detroit’s five.

“He pounded the strike zone with four pitches,” Acta said. “I didn’t feel we were aggressive enough, with 13 strikeouts and a number of them looking (five). It was an issue for us.

“That’s been our M.O. We lead the league in strikeouts (1,079 in 138 games). That’s been a problem. It comes with the territory when you have to run inexperienced kids out there.”

Fukudome’s homer was the only hit off Fister over his final three innings of work, with the Indians failing to generate the late magic they’ve produced on a number of occasions at Progressive Field.

“He just made good pitches and didn’t give us much to hit,” said Sizemore, who was activated from the disabled list prior to the game and went 0-4 with two strikeouts against Fister.

The Indians, who were hoping for a sweep of the Tigers to trim the deficit substantially, have two more chances to gain instant ground, with Detroit leaving town Wednesday.

“We have to take it one game at a time,” Jimenez said. “There’s still a lot of baseball left.”

But time is running out on the Indians.

“Every game we play now is important,” Sizemore said. “We’re playing in September and we’re playing from behind, so you can’t afford to lose games.”

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

CLEVELAND — It wasn’t triumphant, but Grady Sizemore made his return Monday for the opening game of a pivotal series against the Tigers.

Sizemore, out since July 18 after sustaining a right knee contusion and undergoing a sports hernia operation, was activated from the disabled list, going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in the Indians’ 4-2 loss.

The oft-injured Sizemore could have used more minor league rehab time, but with the Indians still in the Central Division race, the potential lift he can provide was required for a depleted lineup.

“It’s exciting to have him back,” manager Manny Acta said. “We understand that in any other normal situation, he could probably use more time down there. But we’re not in any type of normal situation.

“He said that he was ready to go, and this was the best he was going to feel going forward.”

Sizemore played in three rehab games with Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus, going 4-for-11 with an RBI. He is hitting .233 with 10 home runs and 30 RBIs in 62 games for the Indians this season, landing on the DL three times already.

“I think I saw enough pitches down there,” Sizemore said. “It doesn’t matter how many games you play down there. It’s tough to simulate what it’s like up here.”

There were no instances in the field for Sizemore, who played center and hit leadoff, but he did look rusty at the plate, being thrust into a pennant race at a key spot in the lineup.

“It’s tough coming back no matter where you’re at in the season,” Sizemore said. “You haven’t played in games. But I felt good out there. There’s going to be an adjustment the first couple games, but my body felt good.”

Wounded Wahoos

Designated hitter Travis Hafner took batting practice for the third straight day and is expected to test his ailing right foot with agility drills this week. The Indians feared Hafner was lost for the year but got encouraging news after a recent examination and expect him to return this season.

(bullet) Acta said he expects second baseman Jason Kipnis (right hamstring strain) to return sometime this week. Kipnis has been sidelined for close to a month.

(bullet) Shin-Soo Choo (left oblique strain) took batting practice but is still not eligible to leave the injured list until Sept. 12.

Minor details

Both Columbus and High-A Kinston will open their respective playoff series Wednesday.

Columbus, which owns the International League’s best record (88-55 through Sunday) and won the West Division title, will begin its best-of-five series at Durham.

Kinston, which clinched the Carolina League Southern Division second-half title Sunday (76-61), starts its best-of-five series at Myrtle Beach.

Roundin’ third

Second baseman Jason Donald hit safely for the 10th time in 11 games, going 1-for-2 with a single and scoring the Indians’ first run in the fifth inning. Donald is batting .364 (16-for-44) with a homer and three RBIs over the span. … Fans got some added entertainment with a number of the planes from the Cleveland National Air Show at Burke Lakefront Airport passing over Progressive Field. … The Indians are offering $5 tickets tonight for all upper-deck seats. … Tonight, 7:05, STO/WTAM 1100-AM/WEOL 930-AM. Carmona (6-13, 4.84) vs. Porcello (12-8, 5.01).

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

The Indians opened a pivotal three-game series against the Tigers with a 4-2 loss Monday afternoon at Progressive Field.

Former Cleveland player Victor Martinez landed the big blow for Detroit, hitting a three-run home run off Ubaldo Jimenez in the fourth inning.

The Indians are now 7 1/2 games behind the Tigers in the Central Division standings.