Kansas City, Mo. ? Kansas City manager Tony Pena rather would look forward to next season than dwell on this one.

The Royals set a club record for losses with their 101st of the season, falling, 5-2, to the Cleveland on Wednesday night.

“This is not fun at all. It has been very, very tough,” Pena said. “It’s not going to be like this forever. We need to start thinking about next season and starting fresh. I know we can do this. I know we can turn this thing around.”

The Royals lost their fifth straight — the sixth skid of at least five in a row — and dropped to 57-101 after going 83-79 last year and entering this season as one of the favorites in the AL Central. The only other time the Royals lost 100 games in the franchise’s 36 year history was in 2002.

“We have been there before, and we know what we have to do to turn things around,” Pena said. “We’ve already started working on next year because we know what we have to do.”

Still, the club record is hard for Pena to accept.

“I have been here for 2 1/2 years and we have set all kinds of records,” Pena said. “The club record makes the 101 losses even worse.”

Matt Stairs, one of the veterans signed in the offseason to bolster the Royals’ lineup, was succinct in his evaluation of the record.

“Being part of the team that set a franchise record for losses — let’s put it this way — there’s no good points about it. If you’re going to break a club record, there’s a pretty good chance that you had a really bad year. We did. Let’s try to finish up strong and put this year behind us.”

Cleveland's Ben Broussard, left, is congratulated by Casey Blake after Broussard hit a home run in the third inning. The Indians defeated Kansas City, 5-2, Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., and the Royals set a franchise record with their 101st loss of the season.

Ben Broussard homered and Cliff Bartosh (1-0) earned his first major league victory with one inning of perfect relief for the Indians.

“It feels good,” Bartosh said. “As a reliever, you’re not out there trying to get wins. You just try to do your job — get the guys out and keep your team in it.”

Bob Wickman pitched the ninth for his 12th save.

Mike Wood (3-8) allowed nine hits and five runs in 5 2-3 innings. He struck out three and walked none.

“I didn’t have my crisp stuff out there today, but with two outs in the sixth, everything just fell apart,” Wood said. “I just fell behind a few guys and they hit good pitches.”

The Indians scored in the first on a two-out single by Victor Martinez.

The Royals went up 2-1 in the bottom of the second. John Buck and Alexis Gomez led off with singles off Kyle Denney. Donnie Murphy followed with an RBI single. After David DeJesus walked to load the bases, Joe Randa grounded out to short, scoring Gomez.

The Royals left the bases loaded in the first two innings and left 11 runners on base for the game, nine in the first four innings.

The two runs in the second ensured that Kansas City would score more than a run for the first time in five games.

Cleveland tied it in the third behind Broussard’s 420-foot home run to center and took the lead with three runs in the sixth.

Josh Phelps’ double off the wall in left and Casey Blake scored. Phelps advanced to third when shortstop Angel Berrora’s relay to home plate went over catcher Buck’s head for an error. Phelps then scored on a double by Grady Sizemore. Ronnie Belliard’s single scored Sizemore and chased Wood.

Notes: The Indians’ three-game sweep against the Royals was their first in Kansas City since May 1-3, 2001. … Wood’s hit-by-pitch in the sixth was the 56th of the season for the Royals, the sixth highest total in club history. … The Indians improved to 79-80 and still have a chance at a winning record with a sweep of the Twins in Minnesota. The Indians were 68-94 last season.