Cleveland Indians Roundup: Indians Pummel Chicago White Sox; Bauer on a Streak; Time to Make a Trade?

Will the Cleveland Indians make a big move to fortify their division lead?

The American League Central crown came one step closer to the Cleveland Indians last night when they pummeled the Chicago White Sox 13-2. Danny Salazar put up yet another dominant start, striking out seven batters while only allowing two runs over 6 and two-thirds innings of work. The right-hander now has a 2.23 earned run average on the season. 

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As for the big story from that game, the offense absolutely obliterated James Shields. The Indians scored eight runs on seven hits and three walks against the starter – all in less than two innings. Mike Napoli launched his 15^th home run of the season to go along with two singles.

Another top player from the game was Tyler Naquin, who came a double away from hitting for the cycle. He went three-for-three without leaving a single runner on base. The 25-year-old is now batting .300 with an abnormally high .190 isolated power. Unfortunately, his impressive start to his major league career does not look sustainable, but what a start is has been.

In other news, Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer commented that the division looks to be wide open. While the team has just a one-game lead over the Kansas City Royals, FanGraphs gives them a 63.3 percent chance of winning the division. Certainly it would be rash to assume that the Cleveland Indians have it in the bag; and as such, Pluto wonders whether the Tribe will make a move for another bat. Chris Antonetti has shown that he is not afraid to make a move – as he did when he acquired Ubaldo Jimenez in 2011 – and the Indians have some interesting arms in the minor leagues.

Finally, Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com noted that having Chris Gimenez serve as Trevor Bauer’s personal catcher seems to be working out for the Tribe. Gimenez has been Bauer’s catcher for his last five starts, and he has posted a 2.52 earned run average in that time. Most impressive, he has only walked 10 batters against 32 strikeouts in just under 36 innings. This is the same Trevor Bauer who led the American League in walks last season. Whatever the reason, I, for one, am glad that Trevor Bauer is pitching so well.

More from around the American League Central:

Cleveland Indians Trounce the Chicago White Sox 13-2 – Wahoo’s on First

Cleveland Indians have Terry Talkin’ about Central Division being wide open, will they make a move? — Terry Pluto (photos) – Cleveland.com

Trevor Bauer-Chris Gimenez Combination Paying Dividends for the Cleveland Indians – Cleveland.com