Indians set AL record with 21 straight wins
By Tre LyDay
The last time the Cleveland Indians lost a game, we thought the Los Angeles Dodgers were actually good.
At this point there’s no telling when the Cleveland Indians might actually lose. After beating the Detroit Tigers, 5-3, on Wednesday the Indians have broken the AL record with their 21st straight victory.
The previous record held by the 2002 Oakland A’s seemed like one that might never be broken, but the mark lasted less than 20 years. Both teams were driven by starting pitching, including Barry Zico, Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson, Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco.
The longest streak in all of baseball belongs to the 1916 New York Giants at 26 games in a row, but that was pre-live ball era. Not only that, but there was a tie within the streak. The 1935 Chicago Cubs won 21 straight, with no tie involved.
The numbers that go into this streak are absolutely staggering. The Indians have won 21 in a row. It took the Royals 45 games to win 20 games, and it took the White Sox 62 games to win 20.
#Indians 20-0 last 20 games#Twins 20-13 last 33#Royals 20-25 last 45#Tigers 20-35 last 55#WhiteSox 20-42 last 62
— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) September 13, 2017
Their pitching has been absolutely fantastic as well. During the streak the Indians have seven shutouts. That’s as many or more than 18 teams this season.
Shortstop Francisco Lindor aka “Mr. Smiles” has been all smiles with the way he’s hit in entering Wednesday’s game. Lindor is hitting .364 with nine home runs, 19 RBI and a 1.229 OPS. He also became the first shortstop in Indians history to hit 30 home runs in a single season.
The most staggering statistic of them all. The Indians have hit more home runs (40) than total runs allowed.
More importantly after the last month of baseball the Indians have run down the struggling Astros for the best record in the American League. That will go a long way in the Indians hunt to get back to the World Series where they fell a game short of being champions last season.
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Not only do they have the best record in the American League, but because the Los Angeles Dodgers have fallen off of a cliff, the Indians have closed the gap on the best record in all of baseball.
The Dodgers are currently 93-52 while the Indians sit at 90-56. Because the MLB All-Star game doesn’t decide home field advantage anymore the last couple weeks are extremely important to both teams.