The Indians only had to glance across the diamond last night to have a look at what they should aspire to be: a team on the verge of clinching a division title.
↵Minnesota scored all of their runs with two outs on their way to a 9-3 victory over the Tribe. Coupled with the White Sox' loss later last night, the Twins magic number was reduced to two in the Central Division, which means that some time late tonight, Minnesota might be breaking out the bubbly.
↵The Indians hope to forestall that for at least one day.
↵Jeanmar Gomez was the victim of eight of the runs as his ERA climbed to 4.96 and his record dropped to 3-5. More troubling is that Gomez is now 0-5 with an ERA of 7.67 in his last six starts.
↵It may be time to think about shutting him down for the season before his confidence for next season is damaged. That is only my opinion, but he might be better served studying how Fausto Carmona (who starts tonight) and other staff members close innings and to take that lesson into the off-season instead of the memory of another shellacking in the next week-and-a-half.
↵Michael Brantley's 19-game hitting streak ended last night when he went 0-for-5.