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.

• Box score

If it wasn’t for catcher Austin Hedges serving a single into right field with two outs 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.

The hit
There may not have been a better time for Hedges to record his first hit as a member of the Tribe, breaking up a no-hitter after 7 2/3 innings on Singer’s 116th pitch of the night.

“Just from the team standpoint,” Hedges said, “Minnesota is going to be a big series, and if you get no-hit, it just kind of kills some of the good vibes. We definitely didn't want to walk out of here with a no-hitter against us. I was just trying to have a good at-bat, see some pitches and wait for a mistake, and he gave me one of those.”

Hedges’ base hit had an expected batting average of .380, per Statcast, but with an infield shift that opened up more of the right side, the ground ball was easily out of reach.

“Kind of happy Hedges got that hit at least,” Indians temporary manager Sandy Alomar Jr. said. “But [Singer] kept the ball down, in the corner. Low pitches [that were] borderline, they were giving them to him. He earned those pitches. … He has a good arm and he was painting the corners. So you have to give him some kudos.”

What does this mean for the offense?
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. With the White Sox and Twins both having off-days on Thursday, the Tribe sits in third place -- 1 1/2 games behind Chicago and a half-game behind Minnesota.

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.

“Two days ago, we scored six runs,” Alomar said. “We gave up eight, but we scored six. Then we got shut down the last two days. It’s been like that most of the year. We’re still in a very good spot.”

It’s true that the Indians have had a roller coaster of a season, scoring a handful of runs in consecutive days before going silent for a small stretch. And since it doesn’t seem to be ironing out, the spotlight is shining even more brightly on the Tribe’s pitching staff.

The starting rotation is used to the situation, noting countless times that the struggling bats have not added any more pressure to their performances -- at least not that they’ve admitted.

Cleveland had been tied with the D-backs for the most games scoring two or fewer runs (19), before recording its 20th on Thursday.

Though the pitching staff wasn’t quite as sharp as it usually is on Thursday, the Indians’ record is still 26-18 despite leading that category, while the D-backs entered the day at 15-29 -- demonstrating just how valuable their hurlers have been.

As long as the team doesn’t suffer any cracks in its pitching foundation, the Tribe still may have some time to find its missing offensive spark.

“We just got to stay positive and keep pushing and keep pushing the envelope until the season is finished,” Alomar said. “With all of this going, we’re still eight games over [.500]. So we are in a great spot. We just have to stay positive with that. I can’t emphasize anything else.”