Cleveland Indians: 3 takeaways from the last win before the ASG

The Cleveland Indians ended the first half of the year with a bang as they take down the mighty Yankees in the last game of the first half.

What an incredible way to head into the All-Star break. The Cleveland Indians have played close games with the New York Yankees all year. Every time, it feels like the Yankees get the best of the Tribe late in those games. Today, the Indians turned the tables on the Bronx Bombers.

The Indians went down early and it felt like Trevor Bauer was going to suffer another hard-luck loss. The offense struggled early against Masahiro Tanaka, leaving men on base and striking out early. Then Edwin Encarnacion changed the momentum with a two-run blast to tie the game.

The game was exhilarating from that point on. It’s hard to think of a better game for the Indians to have before heading into the All-Star break. Here are the takeaways from the last game before the break.

Hey now, Trevor Bauer is an All-Star

It was another gem for Trevor Bauer tonight. After the heart-breaking loss (credited to the bullpen) suffered against the Reds, Bauer returned to take out a little anger on the Yankees. He allowed just two runs against the power hitting New York lineup.

Bauer worked seven innings with seven strikeouts and allowed his first homer in over a month. This is a tough lineup to beat, but Bauer has proven he can go toe-to-toe with anyone in baseball.

Trevor Bauer has proven he is one of the best in baseball right now. The first half of this year has been the best of his career. Should he continue this trend, he’ll be in the talk for the Cy Young award for sure.

The offense looked alive

It was a good day for the Tribe offense. It felt like they would start off sluggish at first. They responded to that quickly. Edwin hit his two-run double in the fourth to tie the game. Michael Brantley gave the Indians the lead after quite a few quiet innings.

Tanaka pitched a good game against the Tribe and it was time for the Yankees bullpen to work their magic. They were unable to do that as Brantley hit a leadoff homer in the eighth to give the Tribe a 3-2 lead.

What followed was a series of stolen bases that was practically handed to the Indians. It resulted in two more runs scored giving the Indians a 5-2 lead that they would hold on to. In the end Jose Ramirez, Jason Kipnis, and Erik Gonzalez all earned a stolen base off the Yankees’ Chad Green.

It was fun seeing Carrasco out of the bullpen

The last game before the break means that we may see some interesting moves strategically. For example, Francisco Mejia was called up yesterday and used, but not used today despite being on the roster.

Another move that happened to actually be fun was seeing Carlos Carrasco pitch out of the bullpen. Carrasco came in the eighth inning and was masterful. He struck out two big Yankees bats in Giancarlo Stanton and Greg Bird.

This kept the Yankees at-bay in a quiet inning and allowed the Tribe to take their lead. Cody Allen came in to close out the game and the bullpen stood strong in this one.

Next: This week in Tribe history

This will be it for the Indians as the All-Star break starts tomorrow. Let’s look forward to seeing all of the Indians players making an appearance in Washington D.C. See you guys in a few days and enjoy this.

Go Tribe!