Cleveland Indians: 3 takeaways from the sweep of the Royals

The Cleveland Indians spent the weekend demoralizing the Kansas City Royals. Here is what stood out from the crucial sweep.

The Cleveland Indians no longer have time to entertain the possibility of the Kansas City Royals competing for the AL Central crown.

The Indians didn’t just sweep the Royals this weekend, but did so by a combined score of 20-0 in what has to be one of the worst series for the Royals in the past few years.

Home runs were frequent and Indians pitching was about as good as a staff can be, giving the Indians a nine-game lead over the Royals in the AL Central with just over one month to play. Maybe, just maybe, the Royals should have been sellers at the deadline.

The Indians now head to New York to take on the Yankees, and riding a four-game win streak should help even as injuries continue to plague the roster.

But before we all get ready to hate on the Yankees, let’s take a look back at what stood out from the amazing weekend.

The sad Kansas City offense

Being shutout in one game is bad enough. But the Indians decided to make things miserable for Royals fans by not allowing a single run all series long.

Ryan Merritt started the fun on Friday with the best start of his career, going 6.2 shutout innings. Then Mike Clevinger continued the party Saturday in a second straight 4-0 win for the Indians.

Things were a bit less stressful for Carlos Carrasco on Sunday, as he had a 12-0 lead after two innings, but he was still elite in his seven innings.

There is only so much analysis one can do when a team pitches three straight shutouts. The best thing to do is just nod silently in approval, laughing internally as Royals fans lose their minds online.

Home run fever

To break down the home runs hit in the series:

Friday: Francisco Lindor (23)

Saturday: Roberto Perez (3), Edwin Encarnacion (30!), Carlos Santana (19)

Sunday: Lindor (24), Santana (20), Yan Gomes (9)

Francisco Lindor is quietly challenging Encarnacion for the team-lead in home runs, when subtracting Jay Bruce‘s NL numbers, and has provided surprising power from the leadoff spot.

Then there is the hero of the second half, Carlos Santana, who is getting hot at the right time and giving this team a legitimate threat after Bruce in the lineup. Once Lonnie Chisenhall returns, the top seven in the lineup will be almost too much for opposing pitchers to handle. Now if only Michael Brantley can get healthy as well.

The division race

The Indians enter play on Monday 6.5 games ahead of the Minnesota Twins in the division with 33 games remaining.

The two teams only have three more head-to-head matchups this year, meaning the Twins would have to go on a major winning streak to catch the Indians and make the remaining late-September series meaningful.

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With the comfortable lead, the Indians can now look to gaining ground on the Houston Astros for that top spot in the AL. The Astros are now the dominant team they were at the start of the year, and with players returning from injuries while the reserves are heating up, the Indians are certainly worthy of being considered the best team in the AL.