Cleveland Indians clinch AL Central, but who’s counting?
Cleveland Indians must wait another day to clinch AL Central, but who’s counting?
Cleveland Indians: For upon |CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Indians have taken an unhurried approach to this entire season. Why should the business of clinching be any different?
They had a chance to clinch the AL Central on Friday night with the Tigers in town for a three-game series. They needed to beat rebuilding Detroit, something they’d done 12 times in 16 games earlier this season, and have Kansas City beat the Twins at Kauffman Stadium. Cleveland Indians.
The Indians came close to holding up their end of the bargain, but it wasn’t enough. Edwin Encarnacion and Josh Donaldson hit consecutive homers in the sixth to tie the Tigers, 2-2. In the ninth, they had the tying run on second base, but Francisco Lindor flew out to right in a 5-4 loss.
The Royals, however, came from behind to beat the Twins on a walk-off grand slam by Salvador Perez, 8-4, to reduce the Indians’ magic number to 1.
The Indians entered Friday night’s game knowing that a third straight division title would eventually be theirs. But that was the least of their concerns.
They have so many questions to answer and so little time to do it. The general belief in the organization is that they could be a much better team at the end of September than they are halfway through the final month of the regular season. If that sounds like wishful thinking, that’s exactly what it is, but that’s the only option they have left.
There is not enough time to get complete answers to all the questions manager Terry Francona and the front office have. But parts of those answers, as they did Friday night, will reveal themselves in the time that remains.
Encarnacion and Donaldson
* Encarnacion and Donaldson, hitting fourth and fifth, look like a dangerous combination. Not only did Donaldson follow Encarnacion with a homer in the sixth, but he started a two-run rally in the ninth with a leadoff single.
“This guy is one of the best players in the game,” said Josh Tomlin, who started Friday night for the first time since May 15. “We were talking in the dugout the other day. We watched him take his first swing in Tampa and you kind of got chills. I’m glad he’s on our side after watching that swing as opposed to having to face that swing.”
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Donaldson hasn’t played regularly in a big-league lineup since May because of a left calf injury so the Indians can’t push him too hard. In 22 career games at Progressive Field, Donaldson is hitting .280 (23-for-32) with eight homers, 21 RBI, and 20 runs.
“He just needs some reps,” said Francona. “He won’t play Saturday, but he’ll play Sunday. Every time he plays, it feels like an investment. He’s playing the heck out of third. We just have to get him his at-bats.”
* Several baseball people said that one of the good things about trading for Donaldson and putting him at third base is that Jose Ramirez would get a chance to play second, his best position. Ramirez made a play in the second inning against Dawl Lugo that reinforced that thought.
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“He’s a baseball player,” said Tomlin. “You could put him out in center field, you could probably put him at catcher. He’s just a baseball player in every sense of the word. … You could put a guy like that anywhere on the field and he’d probably be an impact player.”
* On the other hand, Ramirez is still being beset by one breaking ball after another at the plate. He took an 0-for-3 Friday to extend his skid to 16-for-98 (.163).
* Lefty Andrew Miller, sharp in his first two appearances after coming off the disabled list, couldn’t protect a 2-2 tie in the seventh. He allowed an RBI double to Jeimer Candelario and another RBI double by Victor Martinez to put the Tigers back in front, 4-2.
“Once he got into the inning, I thought his stuff was just the same as before,” said Francona. “He was touching 94 mph with a good breaking ball. I thought he left a couple of pitches up.
“That’s his third outing, I know he doesn’t like giving up runs and I know we don’t like when anybody gives up runs, but he’s going in the right direction. He threw 24 pitches, that’s more than he’s done. We’ll sit him tomorrow and hopefully get him back out there Sunday.”
* New center fielder Jason Kipnis finally got a fly ball hit his way. Nicholas Castellanos hit a line drive to center with two out in the fifth. Kipnis broke in, tapped the brakes, and put it in reverse to make the catch.
Kipnis has made two starts in center since being replaced by Ramirez at second.
“We’re all just trying to get on the same page and play our style of baseball as much as we can,” said Tomlin. “Once it clicks, and once we get on a roll, it should be pretty good. But we’re not trying to time it out where we way, ‘OK, let’s get on a roll right now.’ It doesn’t work that way.”
The article was originally published here.
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