It’s late August, and the Cleveland Indians are in a pennant race.
Actually, they are in two races. Most importantly, the AL Central Division is up for grabs, with the Minnesota Twins having a 2-1/2 game lead over the Tribe with 37 games left to play.
The two teams have six more games with each other, with an equal split between Cleveland and Minneapolis.
The Indians also are involved in a race for the wild card berths. They hold the top spot right now (meaning they would host the game) and lead Oakland by 2-1/2 games and Boston by eight in those standings.
We understand scoreboard watching is fun and it is interesting to see how Minnesota, Tampa Bay, Oakland, and Boston are doing on a daily basis, but we would caution it is too early to be overly concerned.
Why? Because there is a long way to go. And despite what some people think, none of the other teams are going to go 37-0 from here on out. All five teams, including the Indians are going to lose games.
The old adage is true. These teams want to just keep winning series. They can’t afford to panic losing games. Heck, before Sunday’s win against the Yankees, the Indians had just lost four of five.
Yeah, they went from a half game up to 2-1/2 down, but they are well within striking distance.
A good week for the Indians and a bad week for the Twins would put Terry Francona’s squad right back into first place.
Of course, this is all based on the Indians continuing to pile up victories, and after this week’s series with the Mets, 10 of the next 13 games for the Tribe are against the Royals, Tigers, and White Sox.
Likely, the final standings will come down to can the Twins dominate the Royals and Tigers like the Indians did, and can the Tribe improve their performance against the White Sox.
Cleveland has won 12 of 13 games vs. Detroit and won 10 of the last 13 against Kansas City. To date, the Twins are 6-3 vs. Detroit and 9-3 against the Royals.
However, the Indians have struggled vs. Chicago so far, losing seven of 12, where as Minnesota is 7-3 in contests with the Pale Hose.
For the Tribe, it could come down to how many times they see Lucas Giolito, and how they fare against him. He has dominated Cleveland in his two starts in 2019, while the Twins knocked him around when they faced him in late July.
Regardless, they have to improve their performance against Chicago. To be fair, they haven’t played the Sox since the offense started putting up more runs.
It’s been awhile since there has been an honest to goodness pennant race in Cleveland, so obsessing about the standings on a day by day basis isn’t healthy.
Until the two teams meet at Target Field on September 6th-8th, look at where the Tribe is on a weekly basis, that is as long as the Indians are winning. A losing streak is cause for concern for sure, but if the Indians keep winning series, they will be fine.
And it could be one of those years where winning 95 games doesn’t win the division. That’s the way it goes sometimes.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 