Cleveland Indians: Climb to the top of the standings is nearly complete

The Cleveland Indians have a chance to open Friday tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the best record in all of baseball.

Some Cleveland Indians fans were ready to panic after a rough stretch to open the second half of the season. The same fans are now ready to party.

The Indians picked up yet another victory Wednesday night, although it was certainly only a game for the bravest insomniacs among us.

The Philadelphia Phillies also picked up a victory on Wednesday, which happened to come against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Remember the Dodgers? The team heralded as one of the greatest ever? The Indians are now just one game behind the Dodgers for the best record in baseball.

The graphic above was published before yesterday’s game, but it still shows just how crazy this journey has been. The 22-game win streak obviously made the difference, but the Dodgers have been on a streak of their own, just in the other direction.

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The Dodgers take on the Phillies this afternoon, meaning by the time the Indians-Angels game starts later this afternoon, it is possible the Indians could be playing to tie the Dodgers for the best record in baseball.

This is all quite exciting and almost hard to believe, but it is important to note that the Houston Astros remain just 1.5 games behind the Indians in the American League, and thus just 2.5 games back of the Dodgers.

The run by the Indians has been amazing, but one bad series could mean the Astros taking over both the top spot in the AL along with the top overall seed in baseball.

It is impossible to predict how things will shake out after the way things have gone the past month. Dodgers fans are wondering what has gone wrong while also trying to figure out if the Indians will lose more than one game this month.

Comparing schedules is even a more futile effort as Clayton Kershaw picked up a loss in Philadelphia earlier this week, against a Phillies team with the third-worst record in baseball.

Next: Top storylines as the postseason approaches

The Indians can just make things simple by just winning today in LA, taking down two teams from the city in the process.