A nine-game road trip began with promise as the Cleveland Indians took two out of three in Minnesota and then did the same in Kansas City, but the Baltimore Orioles reminded the Tribe that the road to the playoffs isn’t going to be easy. The Indians offense scored just six runs in the three-game series sweep that the Orioles conducted in Camden Yards, while Tribe pitchers gave up 15 runs during that span.

Cleveland (56-41) maintains a solid six-game lead in the American League Central Division. The Tribe have a day off on July 25 and then host Washington (58-41) for two games on July 26 and July 27 before another day off on July 28. Oakland (46-54) will come to town for a three-game series from July 29-31.

It’s quite possible that help could be on the way soon as the Indians have been linked to talks with the Yankees about Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller. While Chapman appears headed for Chicago, perhaps another or different reliever could be added before the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline or possibly a trade involving a position player will happen. Regardless, there are still some holes that seem necessary to be fixed. Although the bullpen as constructed isn’t terrible, it might be the weak link for a serious bid at a World Series title.

It’s certainly not time for panic though after a three-game sweep that concluded the nine-day road trip especially considering the Orioles are an MLB best 36-14 at home, but there are some changes that regardless of a trade could be made that might help the team right now.

I think it’s time for the Juan Uribe era in Cleveland to come to an end. He did what was asked earlier this season serving as a stop-gap at third base, but the guy just isn’t hitting at all. In his last 95 at-bats, Uribe is slashing just .168/.208/.347 and seems to be looking like his age of 37. It’s time to make Jose Ramirez the everyday third baseman and to call up Yandy Diaz, 24, who is now slashing .336/.414/.494 (.908 OPS) in 235 at-bats with the Columbus Clippers. Really, what do you have to lose? Could he really hit worse than Uribe?

Also, the Indians should call rookie Mike Clevinger back up from Columbus and stick the guy in the bullpen for the rest of the season and forget about it. It’s time to go for it and what better experience in his development could there be for a 25-year-old pitcher than to get a taste of and contribute to a playoff run?

Hopefully, the return home after a long road trip coupled with two days off this upcoming week can help revive the Indians and light another fire to start another good run of play. During the last 14 games, the Tribe is just 5-9.

Danny Salazar gets the start for the Indians on July 26 that is scheduled to start at 7:10 PM, while the Nationals will counter with Gio Gonzalez (6-8, 4.53 ERA). Gonzalez last pitched on July 20 against the Dodgers and lasted six innings to get the win. He gave up just three hits, one run, two walks and six strikeouts. Salazar (11-3, 2.75 ERA) picked up the win in his last start on July 19 against Kansas City. He pitched 6.2 innings and gave up eight hits, two runs, while walking one and striking out seven.

In a matchup of premier MLB starters, Carlos Carrasco (7-3, 2.31 ERA) will start for the Tribe and Stephen Strasburg (13-1, 2.83 ERA) gets the nod for the Nationals for the game scheduled to start at 12:10 PM. Strasburg had been 13-0 before he took the loss in his last start against the Dodgers on July 21, when he pitched six innings and gave up six runs and seven hits while walking one and fanning 10. Carrasco pitched well in his last start on July 20 against the Royals when he pitched six innings to earn the win. He gave up no runs and one hit and walked two and struck out six.

The Indians and A’s have yet to announce starters for the three games series and games are scheduled for 7:10 PM on July 29 and July 30, and 1:10 PM on July 31.

Who’s Hot – Who’s Not

Jason Kipnis has hit well in last 30 games with a .322/.383/.612 slash line hitting 39-for-121. His last seven games he’s even been better hitting 11-for-27 with two home runs while slashing .407/.448/.667.

Tyler Naquin continues to build a case for American League Rookie of the Year and in his last seven games he’s slashing .400/.444/.920 with 10 hits in his last 25 at-bats with three home runs and eight RBI.

Jose Ramirez has cooled off a bit and is slashing .264/.313/.355 in his last 30 games after hovering around the .300 batting average earlier this season. In his last seven games he’s been cold, slashing .160/.276/.200 and has hitting just 4-for-25 during that span.

Although he hit three home runs in his last seven games along with a .536 slugging percentage, Mike Napoli‘s only had two other hits during that span and hit just 5-for-28 (.179 average) overall with an on-base percentage of just .233.

Roberto Perez finally got a hit this year and now has one hit in 19 at-bats (.053 average). Hopefully, he’ll get settled in with regular playing time now that he’s the squad’s No. 1 catcher.