Each player was at his locker, gathering items and packing for their upcoming road trip. The Indians travel to Minnesota for a three-game series, before going to California to face the Angels.
The Twins have a 6.5 game lead in the American League Central Division. If the Indians are going to rally for a fourth straight division title, then they need to sweep the Twins.
“Every game is a must [win],” Francisco Lindor told 92.3 The Fan after the game. “Every game for the rest of the season is a must [win]. I don’t care who it is, it’s a must [win].”
Lindor is not only the Indians’ best player, but he’s emerged as a leader in the clubhouse. Players look for him to set the tone. He didn’t hesitate to come back in April despite his ankle being less than 100 percent. He didn’t show any signs of frustration when the Indians hovered around .500 and fell 11½ games behind the Twins in May. Lindor’s belief hasn’t waivered and he expects his teammates to follow suit.
“The guys are well aware. They know what’s happening,” he said. “We got a great group of guys that are very resilient. We’ll be fine. We just gotta go out there and play as hard as we can.”
The Indians have been resilient, but it’s fair to wonder if the injuries are finally catching up with them? They’re 5-5 since José Ramírez broke the hamate bone in his hand on August 24. The team lost Tyler Naquin for the year with a torn ACL and the bullpen looks as vulnerable as its’ looked all season.
Do the Indians have enough left to not only compete with the Twins, but sweep them and get back into the division race?
Anything less than a sweep would make winning the division extremely challenging. They’re going to need Adam Plutko, Aaron Civale and Mike Clevinger to pitch extremely well against a dangerous Twins’ lineup. They’re also going to need the bats to show up, after finishing with just one hit on Thursday.
“If we want to play into October and play as a playoff baseball team we’re going to have to start playing like it,” Jason Kipnis said.
The Indians know that the margin of error is shrinking with each loss. They know how important this series is against the Twins. The question is simple: Do they have enough left in the tank for one more run at the division?
We’ll find out this weekend.