Cleveland Indians: 3 takeaways from the series win vs. Oakland

The Cleveland Indians were in the midst of a rough stretch, but a series win against the Oakland Athletics seemed to help. Here is what stood out.

The Cleveland Indians needed some sort of spark after losing back-to-back series, and the Oakland Athletics provided just that.

The Indians took three of four games from the A’s in a series that saw both the offense and the starting pitching shine for most of the four games.

Here is what stood out from the series victory.

1. The return of Rajai

Seeing Rajai Davis in an Athletics uniform was an odd sight even though he only spent one year with the Indians. His Game 7 heroics last November will be remembered for generations, so it was nice to finally see him return and receive his AL championship ring.

He is not having the career year in 2017 that he had in 2016, but Indians fans will always remember him for what he gave to the team and the city during that special year.

2. The return of Corey

Corey Kluber sure looked fine in his first start in a month.

Kluber went six scoreless innings Thursday afternoon, striking out ten and allowing just two hits. He did all that on just 77 pitches.

The Indians are in desperate need of a complement to Carlos Carrasco, and Kluber’s first start back sure made it seem like he is ready to return to his role of ace. With Danny Salazar now in the bullpen, it is up to Kluber and Carrasco to carry the rotation, and both certainly look up to the task.

3. Edwin is heating up

Edwin Encarnacion is currently riding a 10-game hit streak in a stretch that has seen him raise his average from .199 to its current mark of .234.

The home run and RBI numbers still aren’t there, but it all starts with hits and he is at least getting on base and limiting his strikeouts, most of the time.

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The power numbers should come if he continues to put the bat on the ball, so hopefully this stretch will help him turnaround his season after a slow start. Being dropped out of the cleanup spot should help ease some pressure too.