Cleveland Indians Take on the Miami Marlins in Final Interleague Series of the Season

The Cleveland Indians finish up their interleague schedule this week, hosting a Miami Marlins ballclub that is in the the thick of the National Wild Card chase.

For the Cleveland Indians, the past four days have been something of a balm. After a disastrous roadtrip that saw the team lose five out of seven games to the Oakland Athletics and Texas Rangers, the Indians returned home to sweep a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins and enjoyed their first day off since August 8th.

The Tribe enters the weekend holding a 4.5-game lead over the Detroit Tigers in the American League’s Central Division with just 30 games remaining in the regular season. Cleveland has not won a division title since 2007, and in the past eight seasons has played in only one postseason game.

Miami has little chance of catching the Washington Nationals in the NL East, sitting 10.5 games back with a month to play. But the Marlins trail the final wild card spot, currently held by the St. Louis Cardinals, by a mere three games. Manager Don Mattingly’s squad has been reeling, though, losing seven of its past ten games and averaging just 2.6 runs per game.

September has arrived, and with it the ramped-up stakes of the pennant race. As the Indians look to hold on to the Central Division and make their way back to the playoffs, every game is vitally important. Only seven games remain outside the division, and the Tribe would be well-served by putting as many of those in the win column as possible.

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