CLEVELAND -- After being swept at Detroit, the Indians knew that that they needed to win at least five of seven on the remainder of the road trip. They did that by taking three of four in Houston and two of three at Minnesota but by no means should that be cause for dropping balloons and the Mission Accomplished banner. All that guaranteed is that the last week of the regular season remains relevant.
Coming into Monday, the Tribe is four games behind Oakland and 3 1/2 behind Kansas City in the chase for one of the two wild card spots. They also have the matter of trying to leapfrog Seattle, who is 1 1/2 out of a playoff spot and has a two-game cushion on the Indians.
Things could become even tighter at the end of the day. The suspended game against the Royals will be completed along with the beginning of the regularly-scheduled three-game series. Oakland begins a three-game set against the Angels and Seattle travels to Toronto for the start of four games.
"Every series to this point has been big. We're looking forward to it," said Terry Francona after Sunday's game against the Twins. "We've worked hard to get to this point and get to face one of the better teams in the league. It will be fun."
THE WONDER OF BRANTLEY
When reviewing the past week for the Tribe, the first thing that attracts attention is Corey Kluber's pair of 14 strikeout games. The right-hander will get more attention later Monday when we assess his Cy Young Award chances but the one thing that has been slightly overlooked is Michael Brantley's past three weeks. Maybe that's because we have grown used to seeing it but even by Brantley standards it is still impressive.
Brantley has a 12-game hitting streak and is batting .458 over that span (22 for 48) with four doubles, two home runs, eight RBI and seven runs scored. With his sixth-inning home run off Phil Hughes on Friday, Brantley became the ninth player in franchise history to join the 20 homer/20 stolen base club and the first since Shin Soo-Choo in 2010. This past week Brantley was 13 of 31 with his .419 average tying for fifth best in the AL.
There's also this -- Brantley is the only player in the majors this season with at least 40 doubles, 20 homers, 20 steals and 90 RBI while hitting over .320. Only three players in the past 10 seasons have done that -- David Wright (2007), Hanley Ramirez (2009) and Jacoby Ellsbury (2011).
Over his last 24 games, Brantley has raised his batting average 18 points to .325 and is third in the American League. Per STATS LLC, if his average holds, Brantley would be the first Indians player since Roberto Alomar in 2001 to hit .325 or better. Alomar batted .336 in 2001.
With those numbers Brantley should be at least top three in AL MVP voting, but since the Indians have been mostly under the radar this season will the stats bring enough recognition?
OTHER GOOD WEEKS
Carlos Carrasco had a career-best 12 strikeouts and got his first Major League complete game shutout last Wednesday against the Astros.
Catcher Yan Gomes, whose work in helping to mold the pitching staff has been underrated, hit two home runs and drove in nine runs.
Two of Mike Aviles' four hits this week went for extra bases, including a triple on Saturday. He also drove in four runs.
BAD WEEKS
Jose Ramirez was 6 for 30 and was unable to cleanly field a ninth-inning ground ball on Friday that would have turned a game-ending double play and given the Indians a win.
Lonnie Chisenhall has cooled off, going 6 for 28.
OVERLOOKED STAT OF THE WEEK
After starting the season by losing nine of their first 29 road games, the Indians went 29-24 the rest of the way.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Kansas City at Cleveland
First pitch: 6:05 p.m. Monday (completion of suspended game, normal game to follow); 7:05 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday
Probables -- Monday: RH Carlos Carrasco (8-5, 2.65) vs. LH Danny Duffy (8-11, 2.42); Tuesday: RH Danny Salazar (6-7, 4.02) vs. RH Yordano Ventura (13-10, 3.19); Wednesday: RH Trevor Bauer (5-8, 4.06) vs. LH Jason Vargas (11-10, 3.59)
Of note: Indians lead the season series 9-7 and have won five of the seven games played at Progressive Field. ... Nori Aoki has 26 RBI and is 20 for 46 with men in scoring position since the All-Star Break. ... Eric Hosmer has 94 multi-hit games which is second-most among American League first basemen behind Miguel Cabrera's 105.
Tampa Bay at Cleveland
First pitch: 7:05 p.m. Friday, 6:05 p.m. Saturday, 1:05 p.m. Sunday
Of note: Indians took two of three from the Rays in May.
