Written by Jonathan Knight

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A REASON TO CELEBRATE: This marks the first time in 12 years the Indians have gone into Memorial Day weekend holding sole possession of first place in the AL Central.

ALL-TIME TOTALS: The Indians’ all-time record against Cincinnati improved to 37-35, while their mark against Boston dropped to 1,019-956.

MORE MAGIC: After comebacks Friday and Monday night, the Indians now have 12 wins in their last at-bat this season after collecting 13 all of last season. Coming back from a four-run deficit on Friday was the Indians’ biggest comeback of 2011 and best since overcoming five runs to beat the Red Sox on June 10 of last season.

ENDING A DROUGHT, PART 1: When Chris Perez picked up his 11th save of the season on Friday against the Reds, it was his first in 13 days - the longest he’d gone all season without a save. The comeback also gave Vinnie Pestano his first major-league victory.

WINNING THE CLOSE ONES: The Indians’ record in one-run games now stands at 11-7. Conversely, their record in blowouts (games decided by five or more runs) is 9-6. And in a typical game (decided by two-to-four runs), the Tribe is 10-4.

ENDING A DROUGHT, PART 2: Last weekend’s series with Cincinnati marked the first time the Reds and Indians had played with both teams in first place since July of 1999.

SWEEP CITY ONCE AGAIN: The dusting of the Reds was the Tribe’s sixth three-game series sweep of the season. The Indians collected four sweeps for the entire season in 2010.

A GOOD INTER-OMEN: The strong showing in the Cincinnati series bodes well for the remainder of the Indians’ interleague play. A year ago, the Tribe won only five of 18 games against National League teams and sloshed to a 16-38 record over the past three seasons. The Indians haven’t posted a winning record in interleague play since going an astonishing 15-3 in 2005.

STARTING THE WEEK OFF RIGHT: The Indians are 4-0 on Mondays.

BALANCING OUT: For as good as the Indians’ pitching has been this year, three of their starters currently have ERAs over 4.70.

STILL BEASTS OF THE EAST: The Indians are now 8-4 against AL East teams but have lost four of their last six.

ENDING A DROUGHT, PART 3: Saturday marked the Indians’ first non-opener sellout since May 24, 2008.

MORE BUTTS IN THE SEATS: The attendance total of 99,086 for the weekend series with the Reds was the largest of the season at Progressive Field and the best since Sept. 19-21, 2008 when 107,559 saw the Tribe play Detroit. Following Sunday’s game, the Indians leapfrogged Oakland to move from 14th in the American League in attendance to 13th, then after Monday they moved past Tampa Bay into 12th. They’re now averaging 18,631 per home game.

BIG DIFFERENCE: After hitting .161 in their first trip to Progressive Field in April, the Red Sox hit .296 as a team this time. Technically, the Indians hit better as well, jumping from .193 to .211.

CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR: Asdrubal Cabrera’s astonishing seven consecutive at-bats with a hit Sunday and Monday was still four away from the team record of 11 set by Tris Speaker in 1920.

BAD DAY OF MATHEMATICAL PROPORTIONS: After pitching batting practice for the Red Sox on Wednesday afternoon, Mitch Talbott’s ERA ballooned by 4.41 points (from 1.46 to 5.87) in only three innings.

SWEET RELIEF: Starting Friday night through Wednesday, the Indians’ bullpen pitched 11.2 consecutive scoreless innings.

NOT SO SWEET RELIEF: The Indians’ bullpen’s 6.48 ERA for the Boston series was its worst for any series all season.

BALANCING ACT: When you break down the Indians’ season by series, you’d expect them to be just a hair over .500. Losing two of three to the Red Sox marked their seventh series loss this season against eight series victories. But the Indians’ lofty record comes about since six of the series victories were three-game sweeps and they have yet to be swept in three games themselves.

PROGRESS REPORT: The Indians are averaging exactly five runs per game and allowing 3.87. Their team batting average is .262 and team ERA is 3.61.

A YEAR AGO: After 47 games in 2010, the Indians stood at 18-29, last place in the AL Central, 10 games back of the first-place Twins.

 

CINCINNATI SERIES BY THE NUMBERS:

The Indians outscored the Reds, 19-9 - two of the Reds’ runs were and one of the Indians’ was unearned.

Overall Hitting

Cincinnati 20 for 100 (.200), 8 walks

Cleveland 23 for 91 (.253), 10 walks

 

With Runners in Scoring Position

Cincinnati 2 for 21 (.095), 19 left on base

Cleveland 8 for 18 (.444), 15 left on base

 

Extra-Base Hits

Cincinnati 8 (2 HR)

Cleveland 9 (3 HR)

 

Overall Pitching

Cincinnati 24 IP, 23 H, 10 BB, 18 SO, 18 ER, 6.75 ERA

Cleveland 27 IP, 20 H, 8 BB, 19 SO, 7 ER, 2.33 ERA

 

Staring Pitchers

Cincinnati 0-2; 15 IP, 14 H, 6 BB, 10 SO, 12 ER, 7.20 ERA

Cleveland 2-0; 16 IP, 10 H, 5 BB, 9 SO, 6 ER, 3.38 ERA

 

Relief Pitchers

Cincinnati 0-1; 9 IP, 9 H, 4 BB, 8 SO, 6 ER, 6.00 ERA

Cleveland 1-0, 2 saves; 11 IP, 10 H, 3 BB, 10 SO, 1 ER, 0.82 ERA

 

 

BOSTON SERIES BY THE NUMBERS:

The Red Sox outscored the Indians, 20-7 - all of the runs scored in the series were earned.

Overall Hitting

Boston 32 for 108 (.296), 8 walks

Cleveland 19 for 90 (.211), 7 walks 

 

With Runners in Scoring Position

Boston 11 for 35 (.314), 20 left on base

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

 

Extra-Base Hits

Boston 14 (6 HR)

Cleveland 7 (2 HR)

 

Overall Pitching

Boston 26 IP, 19 H, 7 BB, 22 SO, 7 ER, 2.42 ERA

Cleveland 27 IP, 32 H, 8 BB, 14 SO, 20 ER, 6.67 ERA

 

Starting Pitchers

Boston 2-0; 20 IP, 12 H, 6 BB, 17 SO, 3 ER, 1.35 ERA

Cleveland 0-2; 18.2 IP, 21 H, 5 BB, 11 SO, 14 ER, 6.75 ERA 

 

Relief Pitchers

Boston 0-1, 1 save; 6.1 IP, 7 H, 1 BB, 5 SO, 4 ER, 5.69 ERA

Cleveland 1-0, 1 save; 8.1 IP, 11 H, 2 BB, 2 SO, 6 ER, 6.48 ERA

 

UP NEXT:

at Tampa Bay Rays [26-23]

(Friday 7:10 p.m.; Saturday 4:05 p.m., Sunday, 1:40 p.m.)

Probable Starters:

Tomlin (6-1, 2.41 ERA); Carrasco (3-2, 5.16 ERA); Carmona (3-5, 4.73 ERA)

Last year: Rays won series, 7-2

This year: Rays lead series, 2-1

 

at Toronto Blue Jays [24-26]

(Monday 7:07 p.m.; Tuesday 7:07 p.m.; Wednesday 7:07 p.m.)

Probable Starters:

Masterson (5-2, 2.50 ERA); Talbott (1-1, 5.87 ERA); Tomlin (6-1, 2.41 ERA)

Last year: Indians won series, 6-4