CLEVELAND — The Indians won a fight at Progressive Field on Tuesday night, but lost the battle.

Cleveland’s scuffling offense, which has been a weak link for an extended time, rallied to tie the game in the eighth inning, only to watch the strength of the club — the bullpen — drench the celebration in a 4-3 loss to Colorado.

Down 3-1 in the eighth, the Indians scored twice on RBI singles from Travis Hafner and Travis Buck, but closer Chris Perez served up a game-winning home run to the first batter he faced in the ninth — Seth Smith — that sent Cleveland to its second straight loss.

Perez, who wasn’t in a save situation, allowed the first earned run by the Indians’ bullpen in 28 2/3 innings (nine games), surrendering his first homer since June 27 of last year — a string of 62 games that covered 60 1/3 innings.

“Every time I go in there, my mentality is to put up a zero,” said Perez, who allowed Smith’s second homer of the game on a 2-2 pitch. “Every time I go out there, the game’s on the line.

“I just didn’t come through. I made some good pitches to Smith. I just hung a slider. It happens.”

The Indians went hitless over the first five innings against Rockies starter Jhoulys  Chacin, who despite walking four over the span, including three straight in the third, kept Cleveland scoreless.

A pair of walks from the effectively wild right-hander in the sixth led to the Indians’ first run on their first hit — a two-out single from Shin-Soo Choo.

Chacin, who allowed just a run on two hits over 6 2/3 innings, struck out seven and walked six, throwing nearly as many balls as strikes — 55 out of 115 pitches — but the Indians couldn’t get to him.

“He had a few walks but we couldn’t get the big hit,” manager Manny Acta said. “But we liked what the guys did to fight back. We put up a fight, but we couldn’t get the big hit.”

With Chacin in the dugout, they finally did.

Cord Phelps, Asdrubal Cabrera and Hafner started the eighth with three straight base hits off former Cleveland reliever Rafael Betancourt, Hafner’s driving in a run to close the gap to 3-2.

Adam Everett pinch ran for Hafner in a move that came back to bite the Indians after Buck tied it on a two-out single off right-hander Matt Belisle.

With the Indians rallying again in the ninth off Colorado closer Houston Street, Hafner’s spot in the order came up with runners on second and third and two outs.

Acta chose to pinch hit Austin Kearns for Everett — leaving Orlando Cabrera on the bench — with Kearns and his .209 batting average prior to the at-bat striking out to end the game.

Acta was told by reporters that he might be second-guessed for lifting Hafner, responding by saying, “I don’t care what anybody says. I’m trying to win ballgames.”

Indians starter Mitch Talbot pitched well enough to accomplish as much, but was hurt by the lack of offensive support over the duration of his 6 1/3-inning outing in which he allowed three runs on eight hits.

The right-hander matched Chacin’s scoreless string through four innings before surrendering his first run on Jonathan Herrera’s two-out single in the fifth.

Smith’s first homer — a two-run shot — came off Talbot with two outs in the sixth.

“I thought that Mitch did a very good job,” Acta said. “He threw a lot of strikes and gave us a chance to win. He pitched well.”

For one of the few times this season, an Indians starter admitted the team’s offensive woes weighed on him.

“It comes through your mind a little bit, like ‘When are we going to score?”’ said Talbot, who is 0-3 with a 5.32 ERA over his last four starts, the Indians scoring just five runs over the span and getting shut out twice. “It does cross your mind, but when you’re out there, the focus is on pitching.”

Cleveland, which entered the night with a one-game lead atop the Central Division standings, dropped its fifth straight game to Colorado dating back to 2008.

CLEVELAND — Those clamoring for the Indians to remove Fausto Carmona from the rotation won’t get their wish — at least not now.

Cleveland manager Manny Acta said the club has no plans to replace the right-hander, who has struggled to a 4-9 record and 6.17 ERA in 16 starts, allowing at least four runs in eight straight outings.

Carmona took a 4-1 lead into the fifth inning Monday — an 8-7 loss to Colorado — only to allow six runs in the inning, all of them coming with two outs.

“I know that everybody loves to go by ‘What have you done for me lately,’ but you can’t always take that approach,” Acta said of Carmona, who bounced back from consecutive subpar seasons to go 13-14 with a 3.77 ERA in 33 starts last year. “It obviously has its limitations with him being out of options, but not too long ago he threw over 200 innings with an ERA below 4.00.

“The main thing is that we have to stay positive with this guy.”

Since the first month of the season, there has been little positive coming from Carmona, who appears lost on the mound and has conjured up memories of when he was demoted to rookie ball in 2008, following a Cy Young-contending season in 2007 (19-8, 3.06 ERA).

The poor effort from their No. 1 starter can’t continue, if the Indians hope to stay in the race for the Central Division title.

“I don’t think you can stay in this thing if he gives up six or seven runs when he goes out there, but we’re not anticipating that happening,” Acta said. “Our pitching guys feel like he’s actually on the way to snapping out of it.”

Carmona has gotten in trouble pitching out of the stretch and losing his composure when things have not gone his way. It’s something that has plagued him at different times throughout his career.

“All we can do is go by what he tells us and how he acts,” Acta said. “He’s acting pretty normal, still having fun. Obviously, he wants to be doing better. We have people that work with him that assure us he’s in a good spot mentally.

“He has expressed to me that he feels physically and mentally better than in 2007.”

Land of discontent?

Veteran Orlando Cabrera appears miffed over splitting time at second base with rookie Cord Phelps.

When asked what the Indians needed to do to stay in first place, Cabrera, who moved to second base after a lengthy career as a top-shelf shortstop, sounded disinterested.

“Believe it or not, I’m kind of the wrong guy to ask that, because there are a lot of moves that are being made that come from Manny and the GM (Chris Antonetti),” he said. “They have an idea of where we’re going to go, so you’d have to ask them.”

Cabrera appeared to be alluding to the platoon with Phelps and his recent move to third base for the first time in his career Monday.

When told he was a veteran leader on the club, Cabrera said, “I like to believe that, but …”

Rest break

Grady Sizemore was given a scheduled day off and will likely get another for the series opener in San Francisco on Friday.

“He’s played a lot of games in a row,” Acta said. “We took advantage of the DH thing, but he needs a day off. We need to keep his legs fresh.”

Sizemore has been scuffling at the plate since leaving the disabled list May 27, batting just .190 (16-for-84) with a home run and eight RBIs in 22 games. He has struck out 53 times in 40 games (162 at-bats) on the season.

“He’s working on not using his body so much,” Acta said. “Just to make sure he’s square with his front foot so he’s able to use his hands more.”

Pronk power

Travis Hafner’s performance through Monday — .341, six homers, 26 RBIs in 35 games — has been a pleasing sight to Acta.

“He looks like his old self,” said Acta of Hafner, who has returned to the clean-up spot in the order. “He’s been pretty intimidating.”

Minor details

The Indians traded Triple-A Columbus infielder Josh Rodriguez to the Pirates for cash considerations. Rodriguez, who hit .193 (11-for-57) in 18 games for the Clippers, was selected by Pittsburgh in the Rule V Draft but released and returned to the Indians after going 1-for-12 in seven games for the Pirates. … Columbus LHP Scott Barnes tossed seven scoreless innings in a 3-1 victory over Toledo on Monday. Barnes (6-1, 3.53 ERA), who was acquired from the Giants for Ryan Garko in 2009, is 6-0 with a 3.23 ERA in his last 10 starts and has not lost since April 19.

Roundin’ third

Entering Tuesday, the Indians bullpen had not allowed an earned run over the last eight games (27 innings). … Cleveland signed 11th-round draft pick Luis DeJesus, a right-hander from Angelina College (Texas), and non-drafted free agent Josh McKeon, a right-hander from Upper Iowa University. … Tonight, 7:05, STO/WTAM 1100-AM/WEOL 930-AM. Tomlin (8-4, 3.93) vs. Hammel (3-6, 3.65).

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

The good news? Jonas Valanciunas appears to be close to reaching a contract buyout with his European team.

The bad news? That buyout apparently won’t allow the 6-foot-11, 240-pound Lithuanian to play in the NBA until the 2012-13 season.

That was the word Monday from ESPN draft expert Chad Ford, who expects the 19-year-old center to fall toward the bottom of the lottery in Thursday’s NBA Draft.

Valanciunas, who will reportedly buy his way out of the final year of his contract with Lietuvos Rytas, was considered a strong possibility to be taken by the Cavaliers with the No. 4 pick.

That could still be the case, but Cleveland reportedly would have to be willing to play next season without Valanciunas, who has a standing reach of 9 feet, 3 inches and a wingspan of 7-4.

Some scouts are of the opinion Valanciunas could turn out to be the best player in this year’s draft, but he’s considered a project who will need two or three years to develop.

Whether that development can take place overseas for a year is now a very important question for the Cavs, who would also have to sell their fan base on the fact Valanciunas is worth waiting on.

“If Valanciunas can’t play in NBA next year, he’ll drop,” Ford posted on his Twitter account. “Cavs won’t take him at (No.) 4. Still I doubt he slips past the Rockets at 14.”

If Ford is right, the Cavs, who are expected to take Duke point guard Kyrie Irving with the No. 1 pick, will likely focus their attention on Kentucky center Enes Kanter at No. 4.

Kanter, ruled ineligible by the NCAA prior to what would have been his freshman season at Kentucky, was in Cleveland on Monday meeting with the Cavs, as was Wildcats point guard Brandon Knight, another player expected to go high in the draft.

Assuming the Cavs take Irving at No. 1, Minnesota is expected to take Arizona forward Derrick Williams at No. 2, but there’s been increased talk the Timberwolves might now be considering Kanter.

If the latter scenario plays out, Utah would likely take Williams at No. 3, which would leave the Cavs in a bit of a quandary. They wouldn’t need another point guard – Knight and UConn’s Kemba Walker are likely top-10 picks – and would probably have to choose from among Czech Republic small forward Jan Vesely, waiting a year on Valanciunas or perhaps reaching a bit for someone like San Diego State small forward Kawhi Leonard.

Even if Minnesota takes Williams at No. 2, Kanter would still have to get past Utah. Because the Jazz has a quality center in Al Jefferson, most experts expect it to go with Knight, but Kanter is still in the mix.

Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4061 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com.

NBA DRAFT

• WHEN: Thursday, 7 p.m.
• WHERE: Prudential Center, Newark, N.J.
• TV: ESPN