CLEVELAND _ The silence is becoming deafening.
Three games. Almost nothing to show for it offensively. A banged-up starting rotation getting next to nothing in terms of support.
The Indians couldn't buck the recent trend concerning their offensive ineptitude, and they lost, quietly, to the Chicago White Sox 2-0 on Tuesday night at Progressive Field.
It was their third consecutive loss, in which the Indians have totaled only one run combined, with 17 hits and 26 strikeouts.
It also hasn't exactly come against the league's hottest pitchers. In Sunday's 10-0 beatdown at the hands of the Seattle Mariners, Erik Swanson entered with an ERA over 6.0 and flirted with a no-hitter for much of the day. In Monday's 9-1 loss, Ivan Nova lowered his season ERA, which opened at 8.33, nearly a full run.
Tuesday's game showed little improvement. Lucas Giolito, who entered with a 5.32 ERA, did lower it an entire run. He pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings.
The Indians (18-16) threatened in the eighth but again left an inning empty handed. Francisco Lindor singled and Jason Kinis doubled to put the potential tying runs in scoring position. Jose Ramirez then drew a walk to load the bases and set up a matchup between White Sox reliever Alex Colome and Carlos Santana, the lone hot hitter in the lineup.
Santana's at-bat, which included a check-swing that resulted in a ball and White Sox manager Rick Renteria's ejection and on the next pitch a near grand slam on a foul ball drilled down the right-field line, ended with a called third strike.
Starter Jefry Rodriguez turned in his third solid start in relief of the injured pitchers in the Indians' rotation _ Mike Clevinger and Corey Kluber _ allowing two runs on seven hits and three walks in six innings. He also struck out six and lowered his season ERA to 2.41.
But, with the lineup struggling to such a severe degree, those two runs allowed loomed large for the Indians.
