Tribe Watch '13 (Week 11)

Record: 34-34

Standing: Second in AL Central (4.5 games behind Detroit)

The Indians had hit rock bottom the week prior as they were in the midst of an eight game losing streak and an even longer losing streak on the road. Thankfully this past week has seen some improvement in the team, at least as it relates to winning. The Tribe manages to take two out of three from both the Rangers in Texas and against the Nationals at home. I would not say that the wins were dominating, but the key for this team right now is to win series. If they do that on a consistent basis, they can compete. Clearly there are still guys offensively who are slumping. The good news is that slumps don't last forever, so they'll start to get hot again before you know it. The other positive for this team is that the schedule gets a lot easier from here on out. Only about a third of the Indians' remaining games will be against teams who currently have a winning record. It's important though that we continue to stay competitive right now for several reasons. One is because you don't want to fall too far behind Detroit. If they gain too much of a lead in the division, we'll lose some of our motivation to win. Second, if the front office feels like we are close, they'll be more compelled to be active near the trading deadline, which would mean hopefully making a move that would bring in a key piece to help fill in the gaps. Winning this week will be particularly important since we'll be facing off against a pair of divisional rivals. First, we begin a three-game set with the Kansas City Royals starting tonight. Kansas City has been on a roll recently and they are only a half game behind us in the standings. It'll be important to beat them so as to remain in second place. Then this weekend we take on the Minnesota Twins. The Twins are a team that we should beat on paper, but when it comes to divisional rivals, there's no such thing as a guarantee. Both series will be in Cleveland, where we've played much better. Let's hope the city of Cleveland keeps coming out to support this team. I'd love to see Progressive Field to be rocking all week long. Go Tribe!