Cleveland Indians: 4 thoughts after Sunday’s win in Chicago

It got close at the end but the Cleveland Indians pulled out a victory in Chicago this afternoon. Here are some thoughts after the game.

Well that was closer than it needed to be.

The Cleveland Indians were cruising to a big win when the bullpen decided to make things close. The Indians still beat the Chicago White Sox by the score of 9-7 but it was unnecessarily close at the end.

Alas, it goes down as a win. Here are some thoughts after win No. 66.

Carrasco keeps rolling

The star of the pitching staff this season has been Trevor Bauer. Carlos Carrasco was initially pegged to enter the season as the number two guy, but a rough May and June followed by a DL stint dropped Cookie down the dominant Indians rotation.

He has rebounded nicely since returning from the DL on July 6. Carrasco went seven innings in this win, allowing one earned run on three hits. He has now gone at least 6.1 innings in each of his past five starts. The Indians have won four of those games.

Yandy continues to rake

Yandy Diaz needs to stay with the team for the rest of the season.

He picked up three hits and drove in two runs this afternoon in only his fifth game with the team this season. He is hitting .526 and has picked up hits in each of his five starts.

Diaz is up with Edwin Encarnacion on the DL but there is no reason Diaz needs to be sent down if Encarnacion is ready to return before the roster expansion in September. He can play at third, first, DH or in the outfield, if given an opportunity.

The Indians have such a big lead in the division there is no reason why Diaz can’t get some action all over the field. His bat needs to be in this lineup.

The near collapse

This bullpen continues to surprise.

The game was all but locked up once Carrasco left the game after seven innings. The White Sox went on to score six in the final two innings.

Adam Cimber gave up two solo home runs in the eighth, but the score was still 9-3 heading into the ninth. Dan Otero came on to close it out and ended up being on the hook for four runs.

Cody Allen allowed a triple that scored two of Otero’s runners, giving the White Sox a chance to tie it up late. Luckily, Allen was able to get two strikeouts to end the game.

The front office needs to really consider adding another arm to this group via a waiver trade. Games like this can’t happen against such a bad team. The division lead is massive but this was a bad omen for the potential close games in October.

A nice day for Melky

On a positive note, Melky Cabrera had himself a solid game by picking up a three-run home run that ended up being the difference in the game. This is good news after he went hitless in the first two games of the series.

Melky may not factor into the postseason roster but if he is going to be getting playing time now, it is nice to see him make himself useful.