Cleveland Indians: What needs to happen for a division title?

The Cleveland Indians have managed to put themselves back in the conversation for the AL Central division title, but they’ll need some help.

The Cleveland Indians have won via walk-off the previous two games, but they won nonetheless. With now three wins in a row over the Chicago White Sox, the AL Central looks a bit different than it did a few days ago.

On Monday, I wrote about how the AL Central wasn’t out of reach for the Tribe, but there was a laundry list of things that needed to happen. Fast forward a few days and the list is much shorter and the possibility much higher.

After taking the first three games against the White Sox, the Indians are now just 2.5 games out of first place while the Minnesota Twins have taken control of the division, being a half game ahead of Chicago.

On Thursday night the Indians and White Sox will conclude their series while the Twins will have an off night to settle the half game they have on everyone in the division. If the Tribe can capture another win tonight, then the last three games of the season could become very interesting, being what would be two games out of first place.

From there is where things could get really interesting. We’ll obviously begin with the Indians who will finish off the season at home with the MLB-worst Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Pirates have had a rough season and might be looking to end on a high note, but they will be met the Indians pitching staff who are currently scheduled to throw Carlos Carrasco on Friday and Aaron Civale on Saturday. Sunday is still up the air for who will take the mound.

While no team is an easy sweep in baseball, the Indians couldn’t have asked for a better way to end the year with so much on the line. Facing the Pirates should allow them to easily take care of their end of the bargain in trying to get to the top of the division.

The next step will be getting ahead of the White Sox. A win on Thursday will put the Tribe within one game of tying Chicago, which would suffice as the Indians hold the advantage in the series for the season.

The White Sox will be participating in their crosstown rivalry to close the season with the Chicago Cubs who are in the midst of their own division race. The Cubs have clinched a spot in the playoffs, but are still vying for the division crown themselves. Heading into Thursday’s slate of game the Cubs are up 3.5 games on the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds.

The series between the White Sox and Cubs is always heated and close, so there’s a high chance that the White Sox lose at least one, especially considering their slight skid of late. Luckily, one is all it would take for the Indians to pass them in the standings thanks to the tiebreakers.

That would bring the Cleveland Indians to the final step in what it would take for the AL Central crown to return to Cleveland, the Minnesota Twins. The Twins will also be facing an NL Central opponent in the Cincinnati Reds to close out the season.

The Reds have yet to clinch anything and still have a shot at their division as well, meaning that they will be pulling out all the stops against the Twins. With the playoffs on the horizon, both teams will be playing a very careful chess game as they weigh where they finish over their postseason matchups. Neither will want to use their best pitchers and have to scramble in the first round, so these games could be a toss up each night.

Should the Indians run the table to close out the season, they will need the Twins to be swept by the Reds to take the AL Central. Currently 2.5 games left, a win on Thursday would put the Indians two back of the Twins with three to play for each. However, the Indians don’t have the tiebreaker with Minnesota like they do with Chicago.

Minnesota has won seven of the 10 meetings between the Twins and Indians this year, meaning Cleveland will need to completely pass them in the standings to win the division. This is the hardest part of getting back to the top as the Indians will need the Reds to close out the season with a full sweep over Minnesota.

The last time the Twins were swept was the final weekend in August when they dropped three games to the Detroit Tigers over a Saturday, Sunday set that included a double-header.

It could be a tall order, but few thought it would even be possible for the Cleveland Indians to be in this position heading into the final weekend of the regular season. They struggled in the first half of September, but have found their footing at the right time and are headed to at least the playoffs with the division crown still possible.