CLEVELAND -- The Indians weren’t worried about how tough their schedule was going to get. But after getting two-hit by the Astros in a 2-0 loss on Tuesday at Progressive Field, it was clear that they’re no longer playing teams with a sub-.500 record anymore.

The Tribe had made up tremendous ground on the American League Central-leading Twins since the start of June. Cleveland entered play on June 4 trailing Minnesota by 11 1/2 games but improved to just one game back as recently as Saturday while in Kansas City (though they trail by three games now). The Indians have won 23 of their last 31 games, but only three of those contests came against teams with a winning record.

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“Even when you play teams with bad records, there’s slip-ups, there’s mistakes,” second baseman Jason Kipnis said on Saturday. “There’s stuff that happens. We’re just coming to play every day and it’s just not letting that happen. Even when you’re playing the lower-record teams, to win this many games of it, and to win the games you’re supposed to this often is a real tip of the cap to this clubhouse.”

Now, it’s nowhere close to being time to hit the panic button. The Indians posted the best record in baseball from June 4 through the All-Star break, but when Cleveland dropped the first two games of the second half to the Twins, there was concern that the run had ended. But the Indians quickly rebounded and continued to record the most wins in the Majors since June 4 entering Tuesday, though their bounce back came against the Blue Jays, Tigers and two series against the Royals.

The Indians are currently 15-22 against teams with a .500 record or better this season, and they have the third toughest strength of schedule remaining (.511) in the AL behind the Angels (.540) and Blue Jays (.515). The Twins, on the other hand, have the easiest remaining schedule in the Majors (.455). But it doesn’t help when the Tribe’s tough stretch begins with facing Justin Verlander.

“If you watched, he had everything -- fastball, offspeed, couple varieties of a changeup,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “It’s one of those nights where as a manager you’re sitting there and you’re rooting your guys on, but you’re also glad you’re not in the batter’s box. He kind of had everything going tonight.”

The Indians’ bats were shut down by Verlander, who Cleveland last faced in Game 1 of last year’s AL Division Series. The right-hander went seven innings, allowing only singles to Roberto Perez in the third inning and a base hit to Greg Allen in the sixth while striking out 13. With two more punchouts by reliever Will Harris, the Indians struck out a season-high 15 times.

“I mean, he’s just a [darn] good pitcher,” Kipnis said. “We’ll have a short memory on this, tip the cap and move on to the next two games. I think some of these guys haven’t seen him too much yet, I think with [Oscar] Mercado and Greg Allen and these guys. So I hope it’ll be a good basis to go with from there and if we do see him again later down the year, it can only go up. So we’ll put it that way.”

Over the weekend, Kipnis also noted that the focus on the lack of tough opponents the team has faced over the past month may not be necessary, given the fact that the Twins are often playing the Royals, Tigers and White Sox. But the biggest difference with the Indians: Cleveland had only played 36 games this season against teams with a .500-or-better record entering Tuesday night, which was the fewest in the Majors.

The Indians’ next game against a team with a record currently below .500 will be Aug. 20 against the Mets.

But even against its toughest opponents, the Indians have proven their starting pitching is enough to hang with any contender. Even after the reports broke after the game that the team was trading starter Trevor Bauer to the Reds in a three-team deal with the Padres, the Indians are left with Bieber -- who allowed two runs in seven solid frames on Tuesday -- Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac, with Danny Salazar returning on Thursday and Corey Kluber not too far behind him.

When asked if there is any extra pressure on the mound when your lineup is struggling, Bieber said, “I don’t look at it as any. I think you go out there and you want to put up eight, nine zeros every outing. Whatever they’re doing on the other side shouldn’t change your approach or your attack or however much pressure you feel. You just try to keep things simple and go out there and do the same thing.”