Nearly no-hit, Tribe’s offensive woes show

CLEVELAND — Since the start of the season, the Indians have insisted that their offense would suddenly catch fire at some point. But with just over two weeks remaining until the postseason, the Tribe’s biggest weakness has never been as glaring as it was on Thursday night. If it wasn’t

CLEVELAND — Since the start of the season, the Indians have insisted that their offense would suddenly catch fire at some point. But with just over two weeks remaining until the postseason, the Tribe’s biggest weakness has never been as glaring as it was on Thursday night.

If it wasn’t for catcher Austin Hedges serving a single into right field in the eighth inning, Royals rookie starter Brady Singer could’ve become the most recent hurler to record a no-hitter. The Tribe picked up two more hits in the ninth off Matt Harvey, but still fell 11-1 to Kansas City at Progressive Field.

• Box score

For a Cleveland team that’s used to getting off to slow offensive starts, it seemed reasonable that all it needed was time. But now, time is running out for the bats to find a consistent rhythm as the Tribe gets thrown into the middle of a heated American League Central race. Entering the ninth inning, the Indians had pushed only one run across the plate in their previous 23 innings — which was an RBI groundout by Sandy León. Mike Freeman added a run to the board in the final frame Thursday with an RBI single to left.

The Indians have relied on their pitching staff so heavily since the start of the season while their offense worked to break out of its skid. Cleveland had been tied with the D-backs (19) for the most games scoring two or fewer runs entering the series finale against the Royals, before recording its 20th game on Thursday. To show just how much their pitching staff has carried them, the Indians’ record is still 26-18 despite leading that category, while the D-backs entered Thursday with a 15-29 record.