Cleveland Indians: The focus is now back on October

The Cleveland Indians have seen their historic streak come to an end, shifting the focus back to the upcoming postseason.

There was a lot being said about the Cleveland Indians being calm and treating their historic win streak like nothing special was happening.

That was likely due to the team not having an emotionally draining game, but that changed Thursday night when the Indians came back to pick up one of the greatest wins in recent memory.

The walk-off win drew comparisons to how the 2002 Oakland A’s walked off to cap off their 20-game win streak, and as the rules of the story go, the Indians saw their own streak end after such an iconic victory.

The 4-3 loss Friday night was frustrating because no one wants to see a great thing end, but it was hard for anyone to actually be upset.

A standing ovation after a loss is rare unless it’s the final game of the season, but both the fans and the players know just how special this recent run was.

The Indians enter today with a 13.5-game lead in the AL Central, with a magic number of just two games. They can clinch as early as tonight, which would require an Indians win and the Twins to lose to the Blue Jays.

The Indians are also 1.5 games ahead of the Houston Astros for the best record in the American League, while only trailing the Los Angeles Dodgers by 4.5 games for the best record in baseball.

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The team went from a respectable 69-56 record all the way to 91-57, going from a division winner to one of the best teams in the game.

Another insane stat that comes after the streak is that the Indians sport a +222 run-differential. The next closest team is the Dodgers at +178.

None of us are likely to see such a win streak by any MLB team ever again, let alone the Indians. But what we do hope to see is a World Series title, which is what the team can solely focus on now that the magical streak is over.

The division can be clinched as early as today, leaving the last remaining race in September the one for the top spot in the AL. The top spot in all of baseball is still technically up for grabs, but the Dodgers should be able to secure it now that they ended their horrible stretch of baseball.

This means the Indians will still be fighting and playing competitive baseball, but some starters will be given some much-needed rest to prepare for October. Fans may complain, but we all just witnessed what every member of this active roster can do, so there is never a reason to worry.

Next: Appreciating the streak

Even if the Indians don’t get that top spot in the AL, the team would still get home-field advantage in the ALDS, which was also the case last year. And as we saw, anything can happen once it’s October, making the chase for the top spot not a dire situation.