Written by Jonathan Knight

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SO IT’S LIKE THIS, THEN: The Indians are 1-6 against the fourth- and fifth-place White Sox and Twins, but 10-2 against the second- and third-place Tigers and Royals.

ALL-TIME TOTALS: The Indians’ all-time record against the Mariners improved to 200-154, while their mark against the Royals jumped to 290-274 and against the White Sox dropped to 987-1,028. The Mariners return to Cleveland for what will now be a five-game series Aug. 22-25. The Tribe won’t face Kansas City again until July 29-31 and the White Sox until July 22-24.

MORE MAGIC: Travis Hafner’s bomb to beat the Mariners last Friday night was the Tribe’s fifth straight win at home in its last at-bat. It was the Indians’ ninth win in their last at-bat this season (they had 13 for all of 2010) and their fourth walk-off triumph of 2011.

LAST-MINUTE COMEBACK: Friday night’s miracle win over Seattle atoned for the blown ninth-inning lead in a loss at Kansas City on April 21. Only once in all of 2010 did the Indians rally to win after trailing in the ninth inning, though they lost three games after leading in the ninth inning.

LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD: Starting with the ninth inning Friday night through the first inning against Kansas City on Tuesday, the Indians scored 25 runs in an 11-inning stretch. Then, ironically, starting in the eighth inning on Tuesday until the first inning Thursday night, the Indians went 11 straight innings without scoring a run.

BIG NIGHT: The 19 runs scored Monday night were the most the Indians had scored in a game since lighting up the Yankees for 22 runs in the opening weekend at the new Yankee Stadium on April 18, 2009. That was also the last time the Tribe hit double digits in one inning, scoring 14 in the second.

REIGNING OVER THE ROYALS, STRUGGLING AGAINST THE SOX: The Indians have defeated the Royals in seven of their nine meetings in 2011 and in 14 of their last 19 meetings overall. They’ve also lost four of their five games against the White Sox in 2011 and 10 of their last 12 to Chicago overall.

CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN: Five of the Indians in the starting lineup Thursday night in Chicago are hitting .240 or lower.

ROAD COOKIN’: Three of the last four times the Indians have scored double digits, they’ve been on the road. Strangely, in the past two seasons, they’ve only hit double digits three times at Progressive Field while scoring 10 or more six times on the road.

SCHIZO ROAD TRIP: After scoring 26 runs and hitting .390 in Kansas City, the Indians managed just two runs and hit a measly .164 in Chicago.

DIVISIONAL MATTERS: The Indians now stand at 11-8 against Central Division opponents and had won eight straight divisional games prior to the loss in Chicago on Wednesday.

PROGRESS REPORT: The Indians are averaging 5.1 runs per game and allowing 3.7. Their team batting average is .266 and team ERA is 3.48.

A YEAR AGO: After 41 games in 2010, the Indians stood at 15-26, last place in the AL Central, 10 games back of the first-place Twins.

 

SEATTLE “SERIES” BY THE NUMBERS:

 The Indians outscored the Mariners, 5-4 - all the runs scored in the series were earned.

Overall Hitting

Seattle 6 for 32 (.188), 2 walks

Cleveland 7 for 31 (.226), 1 walk

 

With Runners in Scoring Position

Seattle 1 for 5 (.200), 4 left on base

Cleveland 2 for 4 (.500), 1 left on base

 

Extra-Base Hits

Seattle 3 (2 HR)

Cleveland 5 (3 HR)

 

Overall Pitching

Seattle 8.2 IP, 7 H, 1 BB, 6 SO, 5 ER, 5.19 ERA

Cleveland 9 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 3 SO, 4 ER, 4.00 ERA

 

Starting Pitchers

Seattle 8 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 6 SO, 2 ER, 2.25 ERA

Cleveland 7.2 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 2 SO, 4 ER, 4.69 ERA

 

Relief Pitchers

Seattle 0-1; 0.2 IP, 3 H, 0 BB, 0 SO, 3 ER, 40.30 ERA

Cleveland 1-0; 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 ER, 0.00 ERA

 

KANSAS CITY SERIES BY THE NUMBERS:

 The Indians outscored the Royals, 26-4 - all of the runs scored in the series were earned.

Overall Hitting

 Cleveland 30 for 77 (.390), 11 walks

Kansas City 12 for 64 (.188), 7 walks

 

With Runners in Scoring Position

 Cleveland 16 for 35 (.457), 12 left on base

Kansas City 4 for 17 (.235), 14 left on base

 

Extra-Base Hits

 Cleveland 13 (3 HR)

Kansas City 6 (0 HR)

 

Overall Pitching

 Cleveland 18 IP, 12 H, 7 BB, 10 SO, 4 ER, 2.00 ERA

Kansas City 18 IP, 30 H, 11 BB, 9 SO, 26 ER, 13.00 ERA

 

Starting Pitchers

 Cleveland 2-0; 11.1 IP, 10 H, 2 BB, 6 SO, 3 ER, 2.38 ERA

Kansas City 0-2; 5.1 IP, 8 H, 5 BB, 2 SO, 8 ER, 13.51 ERA

 

Relief Pitchers

 Cleveland 6.2 IP, 2 H, 5 BB, 4 SO, 1 ER, 1.35 ERA

Kansas City 12.2 IP, 22 H, 6 BB, 7 SO, 18 ER, 12.79 ERA

 

CHICAGO SERIES BY THE NUMBERS:

 The White Sox outscored the Indians, 9-2 - all of the runs scored in the series were earned.

Overall Hitting

 Cleveland 10 for 61 (.164), 1 walk

Chicago 15 for 59 (.254), 4 walks

 

With Runners in Scoring Position

 Cleveland 0 for 7 (.000), 8 left on base

Chicago 4 for 18 (.222), 9 left on base

 

Extra-Base Hits

 Cleveland 3 (1 HR)

Chicago 7 (1 HR)

 

Overall Pitching

 Cleveland 16 IP, 15 H, 4 BB, 11 SO, 9 ER, 5.06 ERA

Chicago 18 IP, 10 H, 1 BB, 15 SO, 2 ER, 1.00 ERA

 

Starting Pitchers

 Cleveland 0-2; 13 IP, 12 H, 4 BB, 11 SO, 9 ER, 6.23 ERA

Chicago 2-0; 16 IP, 8 H, 1 BB, 11 SO, 1 ER, 0.56 ERA

 

Relief Pitchers

 Cleveland 3 IP, 3 H, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0 ER, 0.00 ERA

Chicago 2 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 4 SO, 1 ER, 4.50 ERA

 

UP NEXT:

Cincinnati Reds [25-19]

(Friday 7:05 p.m.; Saturday 4:05 p.m., Sunday, 1:05 p.m.)

 Probable Starters:

White (1-0, 3.75 ERA); Tomlin (5-1, 2.56 ERA); Carrasco (2-2, 5.03 ERA)

Last year: Reds won series, 4-2

 

Boston Red Sox [23-20]

 (Monday 7:05 p.m.; Tuesday 7:05 p.m.; Wednesday 12:05 p.m.)

 Probable Starters:

Carmona (3-4, 4.76 ERA); Masterson (5-2, 2.52 ERA)

Last year: Series tied, 4-4

This year: Indians lead series, 3-0