Written by Jonathan Knight

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STANDING UP TO THE BIG BOYS: The Indians’ finished their slate of games against the mighty Yankees and Red Sox with a downright stunning 9-8 record. By triumphing in six of their 10 games with Boston, the Indians took the season series from the Red Sox for the first time since 2006.

ALL-TIME TOTALS: The Indians’ all-time record against the Royals dropped to 291-276. Their mark against the Red Sox moved to 1,021-958.

ANOTHER CUYAHOGA COMEBACK: The latest ninth-inning rally on Saturday night was the Indians’ 24th come-from-behind victory of the season, their 16th win in their last at-bat, their eighth walk-off victory, and the fourth time the Indians won a game they’d trailed going into the ninth inning. Their 25th come-from-behind win came in Monday’s slugfest in Boston and the 26th followed Thursday.

GOOSE-EGGED AGAIN: Friday night was the 11th time this season the Indians had been shut out.

BACK TO EVEN: After the loss to the Red Sox Wednesday night, the Indians dropped to the .500 mark for the first time since April 5, ironically when they beat the Red Sox to improve to 2-2.

SCUFFLING: The Indians have now failed to win seven consecutive series - their last triumph was when they took two of three from the Yankees July 4-6.

ANOTHER SWOONY MONTH: The Tribe finished July with an 11-15 record, slightly better than its 10-17 mark in June. The Indians haven’t posted a winning record in July since 2004.

BY CONTRAST: With 10 extra base hits in the series opener on Friday, the Royals collected more extra base hits in one game than Indians had in their previous seven games combined.

SENDING THEM HOME HAPPY: Prior to Saturday night’s miracle, the Indians had lost eight of their previous nine home games. Their home record in July was just 5-10.

LEAST NOT THE EAST: Though the East is considered to be the toughest division in the American League, the Indians have fared better against opponents in this division than the Central or West. The Tribe is 19-18 against the East but just 25-29 against the Central and West.

THE CARLOS CONUNDRUM: Friday night’s shellacking (and subsequent tantrum) was Carlos Carrasco’s worst outing of the season and capped a downright miserable July. In five starts in the month, Carrasco went 0-5 with a 9.13 ERA - particularly discouraging since in his previous 10 starts he was 7-3 with an ERA of 2.91.

JUSTIN MASTERING THE OPPOSITION: Going into Thursday's game, Beavercreek’s own Justin Masterson had allowed two earned runs or less in nine of his last 10 starts, but Masterson won only three of them and the Indians’ record in those games is just 5-5. For the season, Masterson has allowed two earned runs or less in 17 of his 23 starts.

CENTRAL STRUGGLES: The Indians have now lost 12 of their last 17 games against Central Division opponents. They’re 16-18 against the division for the season. Detroit, meanwhile, is 23-13.

BAD BURGLARS: While the Royals are currently No. 2 in the American League in stolen bases, the rest of the division is light years behind. The Indians, Twins, White Sox, and Tigers are all ranked in the bottom five spots in the league.

THE BEST OF THE WORST: The only team in the American League with less hits than the Indians is Seattle. Only the Mariners and Rays have struck out more times as a team than the Indians.

BREAKING SOME SKIDS: The rousing ninth inning on Saturday ended a few sour streaks for the Tribe. First, it ended a dual stretch of 29.1 innings without either scoring an earned run or hitting a home run. It also marked the first time they’d scored more than one run in an inning since their last ninth-inning comeback against the Angels on July 25 - a string of 35.2 innings.

ENCOURAGING NEWS: In each of the last two seasons and in four of the last five, the team in first place in the AL Central on Aug. 1 did not end up winning the division.

ROYAL DISAPPOINTMENT: Last weekend was the first time the Royals had defeated the Indians in a series since taking two of three in Kansas City last August. The Indians had either won or tied six consecutive series with the Royals.

MORE ENCOURAGING NEWS: Two months before their incredible run to the World Series, the 1997 Indians saw their record shrink to just three games above .500 in early August and their lead in a dormant Central Division slip to 2.5 games. From that point on, the Tribe went 27-19 to finish strong, win the division flag, and build some momentum for the playoffs.

SAVING THE OFFENSE FOR LATER: In their only two victories on the home stand, the Indians scored six runs in the ninth inning. Over the other 70 innings of the home stand, they managed only nine runs.

FIVE BEFORE NINE: Monday night in Fenway marked the first time the Indians had scored five runs in a game before the ninth inning since July 15 - snapping a string of 14 straight games without doing so.

FLOUNDERING AT FENWAY: Including the 2007 ALCS, the Indians went into this week’s series in Boston with a 6-15 record at Fenway Park over the previous three seasons.

OPENING THE FLOODGATES: The nine runs the Indians scored in the opener in Boston was the most since they lit up the Blue Jays for 13 on June 1.

PROGRESS REPORT: The Indians are averaging 4.23 runs per game and allowing 4.29. Their team batting average is .247 (11th in the AL) and team ERA is 4.31 (ninth in the AL).

A YEAR AGO: After 109 games in 2010, the Indians stood at 46-63, last place in the AL Central, 16.5 games back of the first-place White Sox.

 

KANSAS CITY SERIES BY THE NUMBERS:

The Royals outscored the Indians, 19-8. One of the Indians’ runs was unearned. The Tribe committed one error.

Overall Hitting

Kansas City 35 for 109 (.321), 10 walks

Cleveland 22 for 94 (.234), 12 walks

 

With Runners in Scoring Position

Kansas City 5 for 27 (.185), 22 left on base

Cleveland 5 for 26 (.192), 20 left on base

 

Extra-Base Hits

Kansas City 16 (5 HR)

Cleveland 10 (2 HR)

 

Overall Pitching

Kansas City 26.2 IP, 22 H, 12 BB, 23 SO, 7 ER, 2.36 ERA

Cleveland 27 IP, 35 H, 10 BB, 10 SO, 19 ER, 6.33 ERA

 

Starting Pitchers

Kansas City 2-0; 19 IP, 16 H, 6 BB, 16 SO, 2 ER, 0.95 ERA

Cleveland 0-2; 18.2 IP, 22 H, 7 BB, 8 SO, 13 ER, 6.27 ERA

 

Relief Pitchers

Kansas City 0-1, 1 save; 7.2 IP, 6 H, 6 BB, 7 SO, 5 ER, 5.87 ERA

Cleveland 1-0; 8.1 IP, 13 H, 3 BB, 2 SO, 6 ER, 6.48 ERA

 

BOSTON SERIES BY THE NUMBERS:

The Indians outscored the Red Sox, 21-16. Two of Boston’s runs were unearned. The Indians committed four errors and the Red Sox committed three.

Overall Hitting

Cleveland 39 for 145 (.269), 6 walks

Boston 36 for 140 (.257), 8 walks

 

With Runners in Scoring Position

Cleveland 9 for 32 (.281), 24 left on base

Boston 9 for 31 (.290), 27 left on base

 

Extra-Base Hits

Cleveland 20 (8 HR)

Boston 13 (5 HR)

 

Overall Pitching

Cleveland 35 IP, 36 H, 8 BB, 32 SO, 14 ER, 3.60 ERA

Boston 36 IP, 39 H, 6 BB, 38 SO, 21 ER, 5.25 ERA

 

Starting Pitchers

Cleveland 1-0; 24 IP, 27 H, 6 BB, 22 SO, 10 ER, 3.75 ERA

Boston 24.1 IP, 26 H, 2 BB, 23 SO, 13 ER, 4.81 ERA

 

Relief Pitchers

Cleveland 1-2; 11 IP, 9 H, 2 BB, 10 SO, 4 ER, 3.27 ERA

Boston 2-2; 11.2 IP, 13 H, 4 BB, 15 SO, 8 ER, 6.17 ERA

 

UP NEXT:

at Texas Rangers [62-50]

(Friday 8:05 p.m.; Saturday 8:05 p.m., Sunday 8:05 p.m.)

 

Probable Starters:

Jimenez (6-9, 4.46 ERA); Carmona (5-11, 5.31 ERA); Tomlin (11-5, 4.16 ERA)

Last year: Rangers won series, 4-2

This year: Rangers lead series, 4-0

 

Detroit Tigers [59-52]

(Tuesday 7:05 p.m., Wednesday 7:05 p.m., Thursday 7:05 p.m.)

Probable Starters:

Masterson (9-7, 2.63 ERA); TBD; Jimenez

Last year: Series tied, 9-9

This year: Indians lead series, 4-2