CLEVELAND -- Trevor Bauer struggled with command in his four previous starts leading up to Sunday’s matinee against the Rays. He seemed confident that he’d figure out the issue over the past week to get back to the way he looked in his first seven starts. Although the scorecard may not reflect it, Bauer said he felt like himself again.

Through six innings of work, Bauer allowed four runs on five hits, including a solo homer, with eight strikeouts, one wild pitch and two hit batters in the Tribe’s 6-3 loss to the Rays at Progressive Field.

• Box score

The Tribe’s defense behind Bauer wasn’t solid, committing two errors. The first came on Leonys Martin's throwing error in the third on a sacrifice fly that got by catcher Kevin Plawecki, allowing a runner to move to third. Then, Plawecki overthrew third base on a steal by Kevin Kiermaier in the fourth, allowing Kiermaier to score.

“I thought it was a combination of things today that kinda led to the runs. It wasn’t just pitching,” manager Terry Francona said. “Early on, we had two overthrows where we’re not keeping double plays in order. Even though they’re really close plays at the plate, all of a sudden it's second and third instead of first and second. That doesn’t help.”

Why were Bauer’s runs earned?
Questions arose when Bauer was charged with an earned run on Plawecki’s overthrow that granted Kiermaier a free pass to the plate. The decision came down to the official scorer, who ruled that Kiermaier would’ve been safe at third if no error had occurred. The next batter grounded out to second, which the scorer then assumed would’ve allowed the runner at third to score.

“That game very easily could have looked like seven innings and one run with high strikeouts and low walks,” Bauer said. “And I think if it looked like that, then we’re having a different conversation. It was a winnable game for us as a team, and we just didn’t execute well enough to win it.”

Bauer sees positives in outing
May has not been kind to Bauer’s stat line, as he has posted a 6.83 ERA in his past five starts. He was 4-1 with a 2.45 ERA in his first seven outings prior to this rough patch. But the 28-year-old felt like he improved Sunday.

“I thought I pitched really well today,” Bauer said. “It was just nice to feel like myself physically again. Nice to be able to move the way I need to move. Feel free with no restrictions and stuff. I’m happy with it. With that part of it. Obviously, not happy with the team loss.”

No “restrictions”? When Bauer was asked what he meant by restrictions, his answer was simple:

“I wasn’t hurt. I’m not hurt.”

Bauer has proven that he has a good enough sense of his mechanics to know what’s to come. In his April 30 start in Miami, he allowed four runs, went seven innings and struck out 10, but he said after the game, “I suck right now.” That was before a run of four consecutive starts in which he posted a 7.04 ERA. Time will tell if he can accurately predict the future again.

Avoiding the changeup
The last hurdle for Bauer is getting back to throwing his changeups. In his last start Tuesday against Oakland, he threw just three, and he threw none on Sunday.

“My delivery’s been off, and so I’ve been dumping my torso off toward first and kind of toward home and first at the end, and that messes with how the ball comes out of my hand,” Bauer said. “So, my ability to locate it with proper spin direction, spin axis has been compromised. … Hopefully my delivery is stabilized now. I made a couple good changes, and I executed really well today, overall. You hope that I will be able to execute changeups again soon.”

Save that ball!
Bauer hasn’t received a tremendous amount of run support this month, and the trend continued on Sunday. The Indians were shut out through seven innings before Oscar Mercado hit his first career home run off Oliver Drake.

“It feels good,” Mercado said. "It's crazy because it's a 1-2 count, so the last thing you're really thinking about is hitting a home run. I was just trying to put the ball in play any way I could. But it feels good. It's definitely a moment to remember for sure.”