Cleveland Indians: 3 takeaways from the odd series vs. San Diego

The Cleveland Indians were able to pick up a dominant win after two frustrating losses to the San Diego Padres. Here is what stood out from the series.

Cleveland Indians fans experienced another whirlwind start to a week as the team had an interesting set of games against the San Diego Padres.

After scoring a combined two runs in the first two games, the offense exploded for 11 runs to cap off the series in exciting fashion. Losing two of three against one of the worst teams in baseball isn’t something fans are happy about, but the Indians are still in first place heading into tonight.

Winning at home has been a problem all season, especially in front of big crowds. The ballpark is going to be packed over the weekend, so hopefully the team can fix that problem and pick up a nice sweep of the Detroit Tigers.

But before we look ahead to tonight, let’s take a look back at what stood out from the series against the Padres.

1. Kluber playing at a Cy Young level

Corey Kluber has gone from the disabled list to being a Cy Young contender in a matter of a month. His 10 strikeouts in Tuesday’s 1-0 loss marked the first time in franchise history a player has recorded five straight starts with 10+ strikeouts.

He has allowed four earned runs over that span, dropping his ERA down to 2.85 while taking home American League Player of the Month honors for June.

The fact the Indians couldn’t score a single run with him on the mound was beyond frustrating, but the positive takeaway is that Kluber has shown no signs of slowing down. He is playing even better than he was in last year’s postseason and is on pace to bring home his second Cy Young award if he keeps this up.

2. Jose playing like a MVP

While Kluber has put his name in the Cy Young race, Jose Ramirez has emerged as an MVP candidate.

The All-Star is currently batting .330 after picking up three more hits Thursday night and is riding an eight-game hit streak, meaning he has yet to go a game in July without a hit.

All the attention in the MVP race is on Aaron Judge and the trio of stars down in Houston, but Ramirez is putting up historic numbers. It is now up to him to keep up this output after the All-Star break.

3. The latest on Tito

The absence of Terry Francona hung over the team throughout the entire series, as he was staying at the Cleveland Clinic to undergo tests. But the team gave some released some good news on the manager.

The fact he had an irregular heartbeat is terrible, but the surgery will hopefully remedy the problem and allow Francona to get back to full health. It is always nice living in a city with one of the best hospitals in the world.

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Now it is up to Francona to take better care of himself. Fans may laugh at the sights of Francona eating an entire bucket of gum or when he talks about eating ice cream at odd hours of the night, but that has to stop to ensure he can keep his heart healthy and get back to doing what he loves and managing in the Indians dugout.