Napoli’s party won’t stop until November

Olympics, shmolympics. When you’ve got the Indians hanging crooked numbers all over the place, what more could you possibly want? How ‘bout a half game gain in the Central standings? Yup, got that, too. Here’s more on that and some other, less important stuff going on around baseball.

Indians 14, The Angels Angels of Ana’s Home 3

Mike Trout staked Anaheim to a 1-0 lead with an early homer, and then nothing else the Angels did mattered. Mike Napoli had, like, fourteen hits or something and Corey Kluber pitched just fine to help the Tribe win a laugher despite enduring two rain delays. The only bad news was Carlos Santana leaving the game after being beaned by a foul ball, but early reports don’t indicate any serious injuries.

• LGT recap
• BRB recap
• MLB recap

Other Tribe news & notes

Ready to party: the Indians hope to end another Cleveland title drought | Sports Illustrated - The Cavs may have already done it, but that wouldn’t make a Tribe championship any less special or well-deserved. Can Mike Napoli lead the Indians to the promised land and become the city of Cleveland’s second-most beloved shirtless championship celebrator?

And hey, while we’re on a Napoli kick, let’s take a minute to get to know MFN a little better:

Carlos Santana diagnosed with head contusion after being struck by line drive | Cleveland.com - After being struck by a foul liner off of Francisco Lindor’s bat, Carlos had to be helped into clubhouse. Lindor felt terrible - as we all did - but it appears Santana has avoided a serious injury.

Decision coming soon for Indians left fielder Michael Brantley | Cleveland.com - In unfortunately worse injury news, the team is approaching an ultimate decision on Dr. Smooth’s fate within the next couple of days. Signs don’t point to anything positive.

It’s the 9th inning; do you know where your best reliever is? | Burning River Baseball - The addition of Andrew Miller gives the Indians the equivalent of a nuclear weapon in the bullpen, and it’d be silly to “waste” him in a defined 9th inning role. Perhaps he’s more suited to be a modern day version of Goose Gossage.

News from around the league

• Today is A-Rod’s last game ever, but Yankee skipper Joe Girardi threw a wrench in the farewell festivities by denying his request to pay 3B.
• Did I say last game ever? Whoops. Turns out the Marlins have had some “internal talks” about signing Rodriguez.
• But back to the Yankees for a minute... what’s next for America’s Most Hated after the trade deadline fire sale?
• Jose Altuve is batting over .500 on the road since May 1 - is that good enough to snag him an MVP trophy?
• The Class A Dayton Dragons turned a crazy 1-Ump-6-3 double play
• The AAA Fresno Grizzlies have unveiled a glorious line of taco-themed merchandise