Cleveland Indians: No room for inconsistency with resurgence of Twins

The Cleveland Indians remain at the top of the AL Central division, but the Minnesota Twins are making another push for that top spot.

The Minnesota Twins have had an eventful season in 2017 after finishing with 103 losses in 2016.

The Twins were fighting with the Cleveland Indians for the lead of the American League Central for much of the first half, only to begin to fade toward the end of July.

The Twins began as buyers before the deadline by acquiring Jaime Garcia, only to ship him to the New York Yankees after just one start. This seemingly made the Kansas City Royals the Indians’ top competition, but then came this week.

The Twins have won six straight, while the Royals have lost five in a row. The division standings now look like this:

Cleveland Indians: –

Minnesota Twins: 3.5 games back

Kansas City Royals: 5 games back

The struggles the Indians had this past week didn’t seem too bad as the Royals were also struggling, but the Twins’ recent run puts the Indians under pressure once again.

The need for the Indians to stop scuffling becomes more apparent when comparing schedules.

More from Away Back Gone

• Cleveland Guardians tantalizingly close to locking up AL Central tiebreakers
• Cleveland Guardians: Terry Francona becomes meme in profanity-laced ejection
• Say goodbye to defensive shifts and hello to bigger bases, pitch clock in 2023
• Cleveland Guardians: Shane Bieber second-fastest to 800 strikeouts in major-league history
• The next week will make or break the Cleveland Guardians’ season

After the Indians finish up the series in Tampa Bay, they play one game against the Boston Red Sox before meeting up in Minnesota to take on the Twins. The Twins are currently in Detroit with two upcoming winnable games against the Tigers.

After the series in Minnesota, the remainder of the month sees the Indians have series against the Royals twice, the Red Sox and Yankees while the Twins face the Diamondbacks, the Blue Jays and the White Sox twice. The Twins have eight games against the last-place White Sox, which could serve as easy wins.

All 162 games matter, but inconsistency throughout the year has put the Indians in a position where they must hold off a young, resurgent Twins team that is only two games over .500, yet just 3.5 games back in the division.

It is frustrating but as with any sport, winning cures all. The schedule may seem tough now, but the Indians are considered one of the best teams in baseball and must begin playing like one.

Next: 5 best first-round picks in club history

Because if the Indians leave Minnesota in second place, the pressure will only increase at a time when there shouldn’t be any.