Butler BlueSox manager Anthony Rebyanski admits it.

“I’m not a motivational speaker,” he said.

Rarely does he raise his voice. Even more rarely does he show excessive emotion.

But a talk with his team after a poor game in Chillicothe at the start of the second half gave the BlueSox the motivation to make a run at the second-half East Division title and a playoff spot.

That quest, though, was made a bit more difficult following a 6-2 loss to Lorain County at Pullman Park Sunday night.

The loss, coupled with a win by division-leading Slippery Rock, dropped the BlueSox to two games out with five to play.

Rebyanski, though, is keeping the same cool and calm approach that has served him well in his first season as the Butler manager.

“I met with guys today at 5 before our (batting practice) and I told them, ‘Hey, I know you’re starting to get tired, starting to get antsy to go home, but if you’re 80 percent healthy, give me 80 percent,’” Rebyanski said. “I’m not going to pressure them to win. If they give me all they have between the lines, let the chips fall where they may. If it happens, it happens.”

Butler (11-11) had its chances against Lorain County (10-11).

The BlueSox jumped out to a 2-0 lead after two innings and led 3-2 at the end of three, but couldn’t push across another run.

Butler left 13 runners on base in the game — 10 in the final six innings.

“It’s good we had 11 hits, but we had a lot of guys stranded on base in certain situations. You hate to see that,” said Rebyanski. “We had hits with no one on, but in crunch time, we grounded into a double play or didn’t get it done.”

Lorain County tied the game with a run in the top of the sixth inning and put up three runs in the top of the seventh inning, keyed by a two-run triple off the bat of Cody Koch. He smacked a 2-1 pitch from Butler relief pitcher James Connelly off the left-center-field fence, some 400 feet from home plate.

Matt Lengel started the game for the BlueSox and gave up three runs in 5 2-3 innings pitched.

Kevin Hughes got the win for Lorain, giving up three runs in 6 1-3 innings.

Butler is off today and resumes its chase for a division title at Lorain Tuesday.

“It’s going to come down to the wire,” Rebyanski said. “I play it as a mental game, a mental building tool for our guys. Any positive reinforcement I can give them, I give them.

“In the last three weeks we really, really got hungry and came together as a team,” Rebyanski added.

Slippery Rock 6, Terre Haute 3 — The Sliders pulled away late thanks to a three-run top of the ninth and Chase Byerly picked up his league-leading 14th save in this win.Michael Durham went 3-for-5 on the night, Jon Capasso and Fred Ford picked up a pair of hits, while Trent Wooldridge scored three runs. Donovan Feenstra earned the win on the mound, allowing two earned runs in 7 1-3 innings.The victory gives Slippery Rock (13-9) a two-game second-half East Division lead over Butler and Chillicothe with a week remaining.

Lorain County 002 001 300 — 6 11 0Butler 021 000 000 — 3 11 0W: Kevin Hughes 6.1 IP (4K, 5BB).

L: James Connelly 1 IP (0K, 0BB).

Lorain County (10-11): Zak Blair 2-2B 1B, Andrew Kubuski 2-1B RBI, Steel Russell 2-1B, Cody Koch 3B 2-RBI

Butler (11-11): Colin Harrington 2B, Matt Berezo 2-2B, Chris Rasky 2-1B, John Crummy 2-1B

Tuesday: Butler at Lorain County