Cleveland Indians have a golden chance to increase the division lead

Mid-August is here and the Cleveland Indians hold a five-game lead in the AL Central. With the upcoming series in Minnesota, they have the chance to really distance themselves in the division.

The Cleveland Indians are five games in front of both the Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals with a month-and-a-half to go. This is a great spot to be in this late in the season.

However, the Indians can really put some distance between them and the rest of the division. They have two upcoming three-game road series in Minnesota and Kansas City next on the schedule.

These games are a full-game swing in the standings so they are important to all teams involved. The Twins and Royals can make up ground fast while the Indians could put significant distance between the clubs.

The Indians are winners of four in a row and they head into a series with a resurgent Twins club that has won six of its last seven. Minnesota has gotten on a hot streak at the right time to help come back for a shot at the division.

The Tribe will roll-out Danny Salazar, Carlos Carrasco and Mike Clevinger respectively in the series against Minnesota. All three pitchers are coming off great outings in Tampa Bay and will look to continue the recent string of pitching success.

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After the series against the Twins, the Indians will face division rival Kansas City next. The Royals had been on a hot streak before something went wrong and they have gone 7-11 in their last 18 games.

They especially hit a slump when they were swept in a four-game series against St. Louis. They got outscored 37-17 in the four games.

The Indians have a +108 run differential. This is the best in the division by far as the second best is Kansas City at -16.

The Indians, on paper, should have no issues putting the division away. As sports fans however, we know that “on paper” and reality are always two different things.

The starting pitching as of late has been better and has gained some consistency from start to start. The offense has struggled most games lately but it showed signs of life Monday night in Boston.

The best-case scenario is to come out of Minnesota with three wins but they will do good getting two out of three.

Next: Miller and Chisenhall both in Columbus

The stretch run will be an exciting one in Cleveland. The road to October is sure to be rough and it all starts today at Target Field.