Cleveland Indians end the 2018 regular season with a hard-fought win

The Cleveland Indians clinched the division a few weeks ago but it was nice to see the team end the regular season with a victory.

The Cleveland Indians could have rested all the starters in the regular season finale. Instead, Terry Francona sent out his regulars and they fought to pick up a 2-1 victory for win No. 91 on the season.

The best news from the game? The regular season is finally over!

Playoff baseball begins tomorrow with some National League tiebreakers, while the Indians will get underway on Friday in Houston. The start time is still to be determined.

The final win of the regular season saw the combination of Carlos Carrasco and Trevor Bauer pitch all nine innings in the game. Carrasco allowed only one run in five innings of work, while Bauer came in and provided four scoreless innings.

Will Bauer come out of the bullpen in the ALDS? It’s entirely possible and may best utilize his skills. Postseason starters are always on short leashes, so it wouldn’t hurt to have a Cy Young level pitcher waiting to come in at any point.

Back to the game, Francisco Lindor came around to score twice, including on his 38th home run of the season. That puts him one behind Jose Ramirez, who just missed the 40 home run mark.

But all the regular season numbers will quickly fade into the background when the ALDS begins on Friday. It will be a moment fans have been waiting for since last October when the Indians season ended far too early.

It was fun to watch the team cruise to yet another American League Central title, but that was never the ultimate goal. It was one part of the expectation of getting back to the World Series, and winning it for the first time since 1948.

One nice thing about today’s game was that is was stress-free. The actual win was just a bonus.

It all gets real starting Friday. In the meantime, fans can enjoy some tense NL postseason baseball not involving the Indians starting Monday.