Cleveland Indians: Tribe’s craftiness result in a close win over the Twins

Another road trip is wrapped up as the Cleveland Indians take two of three from the Twins in Minnesota capping the series off with a 2-0 on Wednesday.

For the first time the 2018 season the Cleveland Indians have taken a series from the Minnesota Twins. It took four meetings but the Indians won the series in what will be their last game at Target Field in 2018.

It’s a big deal for the Tribe to get the Minnesota monkey off their back. The Indians still have a 5-7 record against the Twins but have a chance to improve that when these teams meet next week. There really wasn’t much action in this game.

The Twins managed to keep the Tribe offense in a bit of a lull. But thanks to the aggressive base running of the Tribe offense they were able to split the scoreless tie in the fifth inning. Rajai Davis and Jose Ramirez attempted a double-steal and while Ramirez was caught, Davis scored from third.

It goes to show the versatility of Jose Ramirez. He played the part of a distraction on that play and closed out a remarkable series he had this week. Ramirez would finish the day with two hits bringing his total in the series to seven with four RBIs in this series.

Of course, we can’t talk about this game without mentioning Carlos Carrasco. Carrasco was spectacular in his outing today. He worked 7.1 innings and struck out 10 hitters without allowing a walk. Carrasco allowed just four hits on the day and didn’t allow a run.

These kinds of outings from Carrasco should raise the eyebrows of teams around the league. If the Indians rotation is returning to form, they’ll be tough to beat when October baseball comer around.

Of course, October baseball may not have seemed like a fun idea without the acquisition of Brad Hand. Hand came in and recorded a five-out save. With some trouble in the eighth inning, he was bailed out with a remarkable snag by Francisco Lindor that resulted in a double play.

In the ninth the Twins could only hit Hand with a sneaky bunt by Jorge Polanco. But the effort was quickly extinguished. Thanks to Hand’s remarkable pitching. He was the only reliever the Indians had to use today.

The Tribe will have an off day before the Angels come to town for the Weekend. According to manager Terry Francona, Andrew Miller may make his triumphant return to the Indians bullpen this weekend. Things are really looking up for the Tribe.