Francona calls team meeting after Sunday's loss

ARLINGTON -- Indians manager Terry Francona is not one to call a team meeting for the sake of calling a team meeting. His goal is to find the moments throughout a long season when he believes gathering his players for a chat can benefit the ballclub.

One of those times came after Sunday's loss to the Tigers.

Francona had a brief meeting with the team following the defeat -- the seventh loss in a row and 15th in a span of 19 games for the Indians -- to let his players know how much he believed in them. The manager said his message was that he believed in them when the club was enjoying its torrid stretch in May and he feels the same way even after the team's recent struggles.

"I let them know that I feel that way," Francona said. "[My message was] pay attention to detail. I think the sum of our parts is good enough to be a really good team. Sometimes, it's human nature that you try to do too much. We do believe in them. Even through a stretch like this, I think I feel as good about this team as I did two weeks ago.

"I think we're going to weather it and I think we're going to figure it out and get better."