Cleveland Indians: 3 takeaways from a series win in Chicago

The Cleveland Indians ended the series against the Chicago White Sox with a loss, but still won the series. Here is what stood out.

Today is a wild day around the league as plenty of players are expected to be traded, but there are still games to be played.

The Cleveland Indians head to Boston tonight with a two-game lead over the Kansas City Royals at a time when the AL Central has become a race between the two teams.

Both teams are 9-1 in the last ten games, and the Indians are looking to bounce back after a walk-off loss Sunday afternoon in Chicago. Cue the Bryan Shaw takes!

One loss in ten games is nothing to worry about, but the Royals are hot and there is no time for another stretch of bad baseball. And before we look ahead to trades and tonight’s game, let’s take one more look back at the weekend series against the Chicago White Sox.

1. Salazar keeps up the great work

Indians fans wanted to see Danny Salazar succeed more than just once, and he proved he is back to his dominant ways after another great start Friday night.

Salazar followed up a great return by going six innings and allowing two runs on three hits, while striking out eight. The two runs came against the final batter he faced, so before that things were going rather smoothly.

The Indians could still swing a trade for a starter, but Salazar’s return and Mike Clevinger‘s success doesn’t make it a glaring need as it seemed to be just a few weeks ago.

2. Frankie on fire

After hitting just .214 in June, Francisco Lindor enters play tonight with a .321 batting average in July. He has picked up hits in each of the past ten games, and had five hits in three games against the White Sox.

If Lindor can keep this up, keeping him second in the order becomes less frustrating for fans.

Someone like Jose Ramirez may slot in better at that second spot, but Terry Francona has seemingly made it clear that Ramirez will remain in the fifth spot for the foreseeable future.

3. Streak over

The Indians couldn’t make it ten straight wins after losing Sunday, but nine straight wasn’t too bad.

The streak was necessary as the Royals kept pace in the division with a winning streak of their own, which should inspire confidence in Indians fans who may have been worried whether their team can make a return to the postseason.

Next: Salazar states strong claim for old job

The key now is to not have one of those familiar stretches where the offense disappears, but a series at Fenway should help that not be the case.