Cleveland Indians (74-68) vs. Minnesota Twins (61-82)

Sep 3, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Twins first baseman Joe Mauer (7) hits a RBI single in the first inning against the Chicago White Sox at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Indians Look to Gain Ground Against Twins

The Cleveland Indians, who currently find themselves in the middle of a playoff race, will welcome the Minnesota Twins to Progressive Field for a three game series starting later this evening.

It’s at this point in the article, such is the case with series preview type articles, that I would begin talking ad nauseum about the Minnesota Twins, how their 2014 season has unfolded to this point, and just what we can expect from them over the next three days. That’s all well and good, but you know what isn’t? The Twins. They stink.

In all honesty, does anyone want to me to ramble on for 800 to 1000 words about the Twins, Joe Mauer‘s sub-par performance, or how they are just trying to get to 2015 when they can expect to see many of their (hopefully) future stars to make their long awaited MLB debuts? No, of course not. I’ve written that article at least two times already this season. I don’t have another one in me. I can’t do it. In fact, I refuse to do it.

The Twins are not good at baseball. The. End.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s take a look at the Indians, where they stand in the playoff picture, and how this series could impact that.

Entering play today, the Tribe finds themselves five games back of the Royals in the Central and 4.5 games back of the Mariners in the Wild Card. With 20 games left to play, it’s going to be a tall task to overcome either of those deficits, but it’s not impossible; not if the Indians keep doing what they’ve been doing, i.e. winning.

Yesterday’s 12-3 trouncing by the Angels was a setback, but not the end of the world. They’ve won 14 out of their previous 22 games with another (their rain suspended affair with the Royals) still to be resolved. They’ve won or split seven of their previous eight series. The lone hiccup being Detroit last week, but even then they were two outs away from a split there as well.

Quite simply, the Indians are doing what they need to do in September – Win. Win as many games as possible and hope the math works out in your favor. So far that hasn’t been the case as everyone ahead of them has maintained relatively the same pace in terms of wins and losses. The standings today are essentially the same as they were a month ago. It’s a tough break, for sure, but one that is very much out of the Indians control.

The Indians do have an opportunity to make the math work more in their favor here in the near future. Starting today they have nine games against the Twins and Astros, not exactly world beaters. Those are winnable games. It’s these games that the Indians took advantage of last season on their way to a wild card birth.

Not only that, the Tribe also has three games remaining with the Tigers later this week and then three with the Royals as well as that aforementioned suspended game that is three outs away from an Indians victory. That provides the Indians with a great opportunity to play leap frog in the Central.

The one real obstacle standing in their way if they are able to make it out of that stretch alive comes to town for the final three games of the 2014 season. That of course is the Tampa Bay Rays. Arch nemesis of the Indians and destroyer of dreams.

At 10.5 games back in the Wild Card, the Rays season is essentially over. All that’s left is to play spoiler, a role they are all too qualified to fill. As a team that has underachieved all season long, the talent is there and there’s enough of it to cause serious headaches for contenders during the closing weeks of the season. In fact, it’s a role they will revel in and they won’t make things easy for the Tribe.

In the meantime, the Indians need to find a way to survive against the also rans of Major League Baseball. That means taking care of business against the Twins. With the Tigers and Royals currently slugging it out, this is the perfect opportunity for them to gain serious ground within the division race.

Things line up well with Trevor Bauer and Corey Kluber sandwiching T.J. House in the rotation. With those three starters, combined with how well the bullpen is pitching, it should be easy to keep the lackluster Twins offense off the scoreboard. The real challenge will be putting up runs. But with Trevor May, Kyle Gibson, and Ricky Nolasco as the slated starters, that shouldn’t be a problem. Then again, stranger things have happened.

So buckle up. The next twenty games should be a fun roller coaster ride that will test our patience, but could also provide us with some awesome memories. What more could you ask for?