Cleveland Indians: Looking to pick up a big series win in Boston

The Cleveland Indians dropped Wednesday’s game but still have a shot to pick up a nice series victory over the Boston Red Sox this afternoon.

Edwin Encarnacion mashed two home runs Wednesday night and drove in four runs in his first game back from the disabled list. The problem was those were the only four runs the Cleveland Indians scored all night.

The 10-4 loss wasn’t all that fun to watch but the main positive was seeing a healthy Encarnacion mash dingers in Boston, which could be a sign of things to come in October.

Carlos Carrasco didn’t have his best stuff and unfortunately, dud games like that happen from time to time. The good news is the Indians can still pick up a series victory this afternoon.

I stated in earlier articles that no one should get too up or down based on how this one series in August goes. But even if the Indians lose today’s game we have seen plenty of positives from this series.

There is a somewhat vocal crowd of Indians “fans” who claim the team doesn’t play any real competition. Well, they marched into Fenway and took the first two games from the Red Sox in one of the more difficult places to play in all of baseball.

Having bad teams in the AL Central doesn’t make the Indians bad by default. It just means the organization properly set itself up to remain competitive unlike the other teams in the division who are now trying to catch up.

Adam Plutko is on the mound today and is doing quite well in series finales.

The Indians will begin the game with a 13-game lead over the Minnesota Twins and only 3.5 games back of the Houston Astros for the second seed in the AL. There is no shot of overtaking the Red Sox, barring a historic collapse, so it is great to see the Indians do well so far against the AL’s top team.

Ultimately, the AL Central is already won and the only drama is out in the AL West. The rest of the regular season for the Indians will be about staying consistent and also getting some guys rest once the roster expands in September.

After entering the last two postseasons with key players injured, the Indians finally have the chance to get everyone healthy before October. Looking great against the Red Sox is simply a bonus.