Cleveland Indians: 3 takeaways after being swept by the Twins

The Cleveland Indians had a weekend to forget against the Minnesota Twins. Here is what stood out after being swept by the Twins.

That sure was painful.

After entering the weekend fresh off a 7-1 road trip that included a four-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins, the Cleveland Indians got swept by that same Twins team, falling back to second in the AL Central.

The series saw the Indians score a total of two runs in three games, being shut out twice and failing to muster any semblance of offense with runners in scoring position.

The Indians are now 15-20 at home, seemingly unable to perform well with a packed house rooting in their favor. That record needs to improve soon as the Indians have a four-game series against the Texas Rangers at home starting tomorrow.

Before we look ahead and discuss Mike Napoli‘s return, let’s take a look at what stood out during the awful series against the Twins.

1. Kluber remains dominant

Let’s start with a positive. Corey Kluber had another amazing start.

Kluber started Saturday’s game, going seven strong innings and striking out 13 batters. He was on the mound for two runs, although both were unearned after two errors in the first inning.

The start should have been good enough to win the game, but the offense struggled against Kyle Gibson and only mustered two total runs, which happened to be the only two scored the entire series.

Kluber’s outing is perhaps the only positive takeaway, as he has now recorded at least 10 strikeouts in four of his last five starts, allowing just five runs in that span. He is back to his Cy Young ways, and he needs to be given how inconsistent the rest of the team has been.

2. The offense took the weekend off

What an absolutely terrible weekend by the offense. A total of two runs in three games is bad enough, but the numbers with runners in scoring position is just difficult to take in.

Friday: 0-8 with RISP, 11 left on base, 0 runs

Saturday: 0-7 with RISP, 9 left on base, 2 runs

Sunday: 1-8 with RISP, 10 left on base, 0 runs

Add those numbers along with Francisco Lindor going 1-13 in the series and Jason Kipnis going 2-12, and it is clear to see that the problems start at the top and trickle down from there.

Related: Indians sign Michael Martinez to minor league deal

It was surprising to see this happen after such a dominant stretch against this same Twins team a week ago, but it isn’t impossible to believe after seeing this Indians offense shut down at several points throughout the year.

3. A great opportunity wasted

The Indians entered the weekend with a 2.5-game lead in the division with the chance to take a commanding lead over the Twins. Even taking two of three would give the Indians a comfortable lead to defend before the All-Star break.

But nothing is easy with this team so instead of even holding any lead, the Indians are now .5 games behind the Twins in the division.

Next: Indians great at putting the ball in play

This series is too early to be considered the most crucial point in the season, but the Indians wasted a great opportunity to assert themselves as one of the top teams in the AL. And after this weekend, they are left fighting for first.