With a storied history like baseball anytime you break a record its a very big deal
Last night the Cleveland Indians just won their 21st game in a row. With the 5-3 win over Detroit the club bests the previous record held by the Oakland A's 15 years ago. Manager Terry Francona was asked about the run and he said, "I think they're enjoying themselves. They should." and "It's pretty special." Looking to add on to the streak the Tribe looks poised to win more too. Theres just no holes in their game right now and the chemistry of the team has made them the team to watch this season.
Lead by Corey Kluber the rotation has really come to form in the second half of the season. Kluber, Carrasco and Bauer all have 15 wins already on the year, if you drop Tomlin off before the playoffs they have Steve Clevinger at the #4 who is also dialed in right now. Clevinger after getting the win last night sits with a respectable 10-5 record and a 3.21 era to go with it. Most clubs would take that from the 4th arm in the rotation.
Its not just the pitching that's been great. The lineup 1 thru 9 have all been contributing. They're scoring timely runs and even when it looked like the streak may come to an end against Det yesterday they rallied and came back for the win.
The game was thrilling to watch. Det. manager Brad Ausmus got thrown out as did catcher James McCaan after arguing ball and strikes. When the game resumed it appeared the new catcher Hicks deliberately missed the pitch and the ball the home plate umpire right in the chest. He would stay in the game however.
Magic number is 4
The Tribe only has to win four games now to clinch a playoff spot and theyll have to decide whether to rest some bodies or fear breaking up the momentum and keeping them in. Its a long grueling season but the smiles on everyones faces right now are masking any injuries or soreness. The city a buzz and as a fan of baseball in general its nice to see the Indians playing exciting ball.
Can we talk about hitting?
The Indians have 5 players all hitting around the .300 mark right now and 4 players with 20 or more homeruns. After starting slow Eddie Encarnacion is back to form and watching his sweet fluid swing is a dream. Hes always been a streaky hitter but hes looking dialed in at the dish and hell finish the year with his usual 30 hrs and 100 rbis.
Jose Ramirez had a breakout season and the only reason i didn't start with him is Eddie E is my favorite player :) Ramirez is batting .309 with 26 bombs and slugging an impressive .566 that's good for a OPS of .928!
Wonderkid Francisco Lindor has to be metioned for leading the team in hits but lets also name the rest of the lineup so you can get the picture of just how deep they are at the plate, Santana, Chisenhall, Kipnis, Gomez, Brantley and Jackson round out the batting order so you can see why they're so deadly at the dish. The lineup is stacked!
What about the pen?
There may have been a few doubts about the relievers going into the season but they have four arms under 0.88 whip right now. Closer Cody Adams has 27 saves followed by Brian Shaw with 22. Joe Smith and ofcourse Andrew Miller have been lights out so the relief core is almost as good as any in baseball right now. You can see why the teams been able to get leads and not blow them late.
Like i stated everything is gelling for the Indians right now and anyone watching has to believe now this teams legit. If they're playing this kinda ball in October i would not rule them out as having a real shot of hoisting a world series trophy!
Cleveland plays KC at 7:10 today and I'll be watching to see if they can add another win to that already impressive streak!
Thanks for reading,
*Pics Courtesy of Sports Illustrated
