Do the Cleveland Indians have a miracle that will let them sneak into the playoff as the American Leagueâs second wild card team?
The Indians’ (77-77) devastating 3-0 loss to the Kansas City Royals on September 27th meant the Tribe missed a chance to keep pace with the Houston Astros (82-74) who defeated the Texas Rangers (84-71) in a 4-2 contest. Houston now leads Cleveland by four games in the wild card standings.
Sunday’s game seemed to be a microcosm of the season as another good pitching performance by the staff was rendered moot by an offense that really did little when it mattered most. In most games, allowing just three runs will earn you a win, but the Tribe’s offense was stagnant with just two hits and two walks in the shutout loss. That’s just not going to get it done.
The Tribe loss coupled with an Astros win means the Indians playoff elimination number now stands at four with seven (possibly eight) games left in the regular season. A makeup game on Oct. 5 against Detroit after a Sept. 12 rain out would only be played if necessary.
Even with the Indians playing their best stretch of baseball this season that saw the team pop over the .500 mark for a day (and just the second time this season) before Sunday’s loss, it might be a case of too little too late.
For the Tribe to even have a chance, I believe they are going to need to win all seven of the remaining contests as Houston has just six games left. Basically, if Houston wins four out of six, then the Tribe is officially done even if they win out. Complicating things is the fact that the Tribe also trails the Angels by 3.5 games and Minnesota by 2.5 games.
Up next for the Tribe is a four game set against the Minnesota Twins (80-75) at home in Progressive Field. If the Indians can pull off the sweep, they would leapfrog Minnesota who is 1.5 games behind Houston for the second wild card spot. The Indians would be 81-77, while the Twins would be 80-79.
Houston plays three games on the road against Seattle and then finishes with three games on the road against the Arizona Diamondbacks. If the Astros were to get swept or lose two of three against Seattle and then do the same against Arizona, it could get interesting.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Angels (81-74) are 0.5 games behind Houston and play three games at home against Oakland and then finish the season with four games on the road against Texas. That means Tribe fans need to root for Texas (84-71) to sweep the series or win a minimum of three out of four.
There are lots of scenarios and it won’t be likely that it all shapes out in the Indians favor, but it’s not impossible if the Tribe does its part and keeps winning.
The all-important four-game series with the Twins begins as Corey Kluber, (8-15, 3.55 ERA) gets the start on Sept. 28 for the 7:10 p.m. game at Progressive Field. The Twins will counter with Phil Hughes.
Both starters pitched in the 4-2 Minnesota victory on Sept. 16 when Hughes outdueled Kluber at Target Field. Kluber has not been as effective since he returned from the disabled list on Sept. 17 and has allowed six earned runs in 7.2 innings. The Indians are going to need Kluber to bring his best stuff to the table for this critical start that could virtually eliminate the Tribe from playoff contention with a loss.
Rookie Cody Anderson (6-3, 3.31 ERA) gets the start for the Indians on Sept. 29 at 7:10 p.m. while the Twins are slated to have Kyle Gibson (10-11, 3.96 ERA) take the mound. Anderson pitched well in his last start on Sept. 24 when he earned the victory by allowing just one run on 10 hits and no walks with four strikeouts in 6.2 innings. More of the same by Anderson will likely be necessary.
Carlos Carrasco (14-11, 3.44 ERA) takes the mound at 7:10 p.m. Sept. 30, while the Twins will start Mike Pelfrey (6-10, 4.09 ERA). In his last start, Carrasco set a career high in strikeouts with 15 and allowed just one hit and two walks to earn the shutout on Sept. 25 against the Royals. However, it he pitches well, then this is a game the Tribe can win.
Josh Tomlin (6-2, 3.03 ERA) makes the last start of the series for the Indians as he will face Tyler Duffy (5-1, 3.14 ERA) at 7:10 p.m. Oct. 1. Tomlin struggled in his last start on Sept. 26 when he allowed five runs on seven hits in just 3.2 innings. He didn’t allow a walk during his time on the mound, but he also did not strike out a batter.
Who’s Hot – Who’s Not
Jose Ramirez has played well in his last 15 games during which heâs batted 16-for-46 (.348 average) and has even smashed three home runs during that span. Ramirez also has scored 13 runs and walked five times to boost his OBP to .412 along with a .696 slugging percentage.
In his last seven games, Ramirez is hitting .320 (8-for-25) and has scored eight runs while slugging .600 and getting on base at a .393 clip. He might take over in 2016 as the team’s main utility player and could make Mike Aviles, an upcoming free agent, expendable.
Jason Kipnis has again begun to hit well in his last seven games and sports a .321 batting average (9-for-28). Kipnis also has a .387 OBP and a .500 slugging percentage as he’s been getting hot at the right time.
Michael Brantley has not been hitting well lately, and injuries could be partially to blame as heâs missed time in the lineup with a bad shoulder. However, in his last 15 games, Brantley is hitting just .236 (13-for-55) with a .288 OBP, but has a solid .455 slugging percentage. In his last seven games, Brantley is hitting just .200 (5-for-25) and has a .259 OBP and is slugging a paltry .240.
Abraham Almonte had been playing well since he was acquired by the Tribe, but he has started to tail off at the plate. Almonte is hitting just 4-for-22 (.182) in his last seven games and just 12-for-54 (.222) in his last 15 games. For the season, he’s hitting .252 for the Indians in 155 at-bats.
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