News and Notes: Indians are AL Central champs

Yesterday’s Game: Indians 8, Irrevelants 4

LGT Recap - indians.com recap - cleveland.com recap

Carlos Carrasco wasn’t at the top of his game, but the offense took up the slack with a bit of help from the Irrelevant defense. Edwin Encarnacion hit his 35th home run of the season, Francisco Lindor had yet another big extra-base hit (he’s hit in 10 consecutive games now), and even Abe Almonte contributed.

Later that evening, the Blue Jays defeated the Twins 7-2, which clinched the division for the Indians. It’s the first time the Tribe has won consecutive division crowns since 1999.

The Indians will raise the AL Central flag before today’s game, celebrate in the locker room afterwards, then head to the West Coast for the beginning of two week’s worth of playoff preparations.

Tribe News

Brandon Guyer is going to miss a week with a left wrist injury, but they’ll be receiving outfield reinforcements from a rather unexpected source; Jason Kipnis will be activated off the DL today and will play 5 innings in center field.

And what would a division championship be without that sweet championship gear. The Indians team shop stayed open late last night for fans wanting to their hands on some swag.

Around MLB

The Yankees pummeled the Orioles yet again, strengthening their hold on an AL Wild Card spot and also keeping pace with the Red Sox in the AL East. New York has hit 44(!) home runs in 18 games against Baltimore.

The Cubs turned back the Cardinals, in the process opening up a 4 games lead in the NL Central.

Jeff Sullivan looks at team depth via Wins over Replacement (spoiler: the Indians have a lot of it)