The Cleveland Indians are the hottest team in baseball with a five-game winning streak that has put the team back into playoff contention.

Winning eight of the last 10 including sweeps at home against the Angels and Brewers has allowed the Tribe (63-66) to move up to 5 games behind the Texas Rangers (68-61) for the second wild card spot.

It remains a tall hill to climb, but the recent hot streak sparked by dazzling play at Progressive Field means games in September could very well have some meaning, rather than playing out the string and to get a look at prospects and players for the 2016 season.

While the pitching staff has remained fairly steady for most of the year, the addition of a healthy Josh Tomlin has really provided a much needed steady hand for the fifth spot in a rotation that is approaching historical numbers in terms of strikeouts.

Four pitchers – Corey Kluber, Danny Salazar, Trevor Bauer and Carlos Carrasco – have all surpassed 150 strikeouts this season and it’s the first time in team history this has happened.

But what has finally clicked is the Indians offense that suddenly keeps churning out hits, especially clutch ones like Yan Gomes grand slam on Aug. 29 to help the Tribe rally in the eighth inning to post an 8-3 win.

Michael Brantley has become the hitter he was in 2014, minus the home runs, and is batting .390 in his last 30 games to bump his season average up to .324, second in the American League among those with the qualified number of plate appearances. He’s also passed teammate Jason Kipnis in that department, who is now third in the league and hitting .319 for the season.

Francisco Lindor is hitting right in the middle of Kipnis and Brantley and he’s been on fire lately and is hitting .383 in his last 30 games. He’s now hitting .312 for the season with 82 hits in 263 at-bats. He must be considered when discussing the American League Rookie of the Year award.

Meanwhile, guys like Carlos Santana and Lonnie Chisenhall are suddenly providing valuable contributions and clutch hits, and the dormant bat of Gomes has seemed to awaken.

Then you have a guy like Abraham Almonte, who has taken over center field since he came to the organization. He’s also providing some occasional pop from the lower part of the lineup including a grand slam on August 30th that gave the Indians a 6-0 lead on the way to a 9-2 victory.

Those bats are going to need to continue to keep rolling as the Indians head into Canada to take on the Toronto Blue Jays for a three game series August 31st to September 2nd with each game starting at 7:07 p.m.

The Blue Jays (74-56) also have won eight of their last 10 games and now lead the American League East by 1.5 games over the New York Yankees (72-57). The Yankees have a solid hold on the first wild card spot with a 4.5 game lead over Texas.

Toronto just finished a three-game sweep against the Detroit Tigers and hit four home runs on August 30th in a 9-2 victory at Rogers Centre.

The Tribe has a day off on August 3rd before heading to Detroit to take on the reeling Tigers (60-70), but as we know, Detroit has been a perennial nemesis for Cleveland in recent years, so don’t expect the Tigers to just hand the Tribe easy victories.

Starting the first game of the series with Toronto on Aug. 31 for the Indians is Salazar (11-7, 3.30 ERA) while the Blue Jays counter with lefty ace David Price (13-4, 2.42 ERA). Price has been dominant since he was traded to Toronto and is 4-0 with a 1.98 ERA in five starts. Meanwhile, Salazar hopes to shake off the effects after his scheduled start was pushed back a few days due to illness.

Cody Anderson (2-3, 4.30 ERA) takes the mound on Sept. 1 for the Tribe while the Blue Jays counter with Marco Estrada (11-8, 3.19 ERA). Anderson makes his second start since he came off the disabled list and pitched well in his last appearance but only lasted 4.1 innings due to reaching a limited pitch count. Estrada had a nice month of August with a 3-2 record and 2.05 ERA in five starts.

Trevor Bauer (10-10, 4.31 ERA) gets the start on Sept. 2 for the Indians and knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (9-10, 4.26 ERA) toes the rubber for Toronto.

Bauer pitched well in his last start on August 28th lasting eight innings and giving up just one run and five hits to earn the victory against the Angels. Dickey is having a so-so year and really hasn’t recaptured the form that led to a 20-6 record in 2012 when he was with the Mets.

Neither team has announced starters for the Detroit series as the games are scheduled to start at 7:08 p.m. on Sept. 4 and Sept. 5 and at 1:08 p.m. on Sept. 6.

Who’s Hot – Who’s Not

Tomlin has been better than anticipated after his return from the disabled list as he is 3-1 with a 3.08 ERA. He was dominant in the Aug. 30 win against the Angels when he gave up just two runs in seven innings with eight strikeouts and no walks.

Chisenhall gets a mention here because he’s hitting .344 in his last 96 at-bats that includes a .429 average in his last seven games and .432 average in his last 15 contests. He’s making a strong run for consideration to man right field in 2016 as well as for the remainder of the season.

Roberto Perez has definitely cooled off recently as he’s hitting just .190 in his last seven games and .211 in his last 15. However, as the backup catcher his main role is to play well defensively and help handle the pitching staff and in that capacity he’s helped the Indians.

Jerry Sands has definitely cooled off as of late and is hitting just .203 in his last 30 games, a stretch that includes going 15-for-74 with 24 Ks. Unless he shows signs of improvement, Sands could start to see his playing time even more limited and may play his way out of any plans to remain on the roster in 2016.