After completing the first seven games of a 10-game road trip that included stops in two Pacific Coast-based cities, the Cleveland Indians increased their lead this past week to three games in the American League Central Division. Cleveland (35-27) started with a 2-2 split in Seattle before heading to Los Angeles to play the Angels and promptly took two out of three to finish the week with a 4-3 mark. Next up before heading home to Progressive Field is a three-game series against Kansas City (32-30).

With a 8-3 victory against the Angels on June 12, the Indians tied a season-high mark of eight games above .500 and rolled with three home runs in the game including two by Carlos Santana who homered from both sides of the plate. The game also had its share of highs and lows for the Indians as Francisco Lindor seemed refreshed after a day off on June 11 and had three hits in the game on June 12 including a home run.

Unfortunately for third baseman Juan Uribe, his day wasn’t so great as he was hit in the groin area by a ground ball smash by Mike Trout and had to be carted off the field. His status was unknown at the time of this writing. Uribe’s injury could mean a little more playing time in the short-term for utility man Michael Martinez, who continues to impress in the role with his defense and the ability to do the little things that don’t always show up in the box score. The injury also forced Martinez to move to third base from center field and brought Tyler Naquin in to play center. Naquin continues his impressive play as he’s now hitting .326 with four home runs and a .908 OPS in 89 at-bats.

The Indians continue to get impressive pitching from the regular starting rotation as Corey Kluber, Josh Tomlin, Trevor Bauer and Danny Salazar pitched well in their respective starts. Even though Carlos Carrasco took the loss on June 8, he still pitched six innings in his second start after recovering from a hamstring injury.

The starting five when healthy is arguably the best in baseball, but the bullpen can be a little bit shaky at times. Some good news has been the emergence of Dan Otero as a reliable option in late relief. Otero is 1-0 with a 0.70 ERA in 25.2 innings and he’s struck out 23 batters in that span while compiling a 1.05 WHIP. Not bad for a guy who was uncertain he would make the team coming out of spring training.

I’ve thought Bryan Shaw has been on the of the best setup men in baseball for the past two or three years, but let’s face it, he’s not having a good season in 2016. He’s been hittable in too many outings and is 0-2 with a 5.18 ERA and 1.44 WHIP with 25 Ks in 24.1 innings. Right now, I’m not confident like I had been in previous years when he takes the mound.

Finishing up the 10-game road trip against the Royals should prove to be a good test for the Indians. The games on June 13-15 each start at 8:15 PM and after a day off on June 16, the Tribe will play a weekend series against the Chicago White Sox (31-32) with the game on June 17 at 7:10 p.m., June 18 starting at 6:10 PM and the June 19 game beginning at 1:10 PM.

Carrasco (2-1, 3.48 ERA) will take the mound on June 12 while the Royals will counter with Edinson Volquez (5-6, 4.25 ERA). Volquez pitched 4.2 innings in his last appearance in a loss on June 8 against Baltimore when he gave up four runs and four hits and walked two while striking out five. Carrasco will make his seventh start of the season and looks to lengthen his time on the mound. In his last appearance on June 8 against Seattle, he gave up five hits and four runs while striking out six and walking one.

Tomlin (8-1, 3.48 ERA) gets the start for the Indians on June 13 while the Royals have Chris Young (2-6, 6.37 ERA) scheduled to take the mound. Young’s last appearance was on June 5 against the Indians when he pitched 4.2 innings and gave up six hits and five runs while striking out five and allowing one walk. Tomlin pitched 6.2 innings on June 9 against Seattle and gave up nine hits, but only two runs and no walks while striking out four.

Kluber (6-6, 3.65 ERA) takes the hill on June 14 and Ian Kennedy (4-5, 4.06 ERA) will get the start for the Royals. Kennedy pitched 5.2 innings in his last start, a loss on June 10 against the White Sox when he gave up nine hits and seven runs while walking one and striking one. Kluber looks to continue his recent performances of good work including his last start when he pitched a complete game on June 10 against the Angels. He gave up just two runs and three hits while striking out eight and walking only one in his nine innings.

Neither the Indians or White Sox have announced starters for the weekend series .

Who’s Hot – Who’s Not

Santana is starting to heat up and has eight his in his last 27 at-bats including two home runs and five RBI. During that span, he’s slashing .296/.367./593. When he gets rolling, the offense usually kicks into high gear. Hopefully, this is a sign of good things to come for Santana.

Cody Allen has quietly returned back to his usual dominating self and in his last 15 games, he’s pitched 16.1 innings and given up just two runs (1.10 ERA) while striking out 22 and compiling six saves.

Uribe has really scuffled lately at the plate and has only one hit in his last 20 at-bats. He also has just nine hits in his last 50 at-bats and is slashing .180/.204/.200 during that span. As I’ve mentioned before, Uribe might be the odd man back when, and if, Michael Brantley returns to the lineup.

Yan Gomes continues his struggles at the plate and has just three hits in his last 21 at-bats. In his last 50 at-bats, Gomes has just seven hits and is slashing .140/.173/.280. On the positive side, he does have seven home runs and 27 RBI.