Indians playoff hopes hanging by a thread

Barring an unforeseen meltdown by the Minnesota Twins, the Cleveland Indians have no chance to win the division and the Wild Card may be out of reach.

Cleveland had a ton of pressure on them entering this series with the Twins The one thing the Cleveland Indians could not afford to do was lose this series. They did just that. Getting swept in Saturday’s doubleheader ends any last gleaming hope that they can still win the division. The Indians now trail the Twins by 5.5 games and it is only a matter of time before Minnesota takes the division title. 

Ideally the Tribe would have spilt yesterday. In fact they were in line to do so until a bullpen collapse cost them the game. Now they enter Sunday in a must win situation. 

Their chances for a Wild Card berth dwindle by the day as the Rays and A’s seemingly have it on lock down.  Currently Cleveland trails by 2.5 games and while their initial schedule after Minnesota is not entirely difficult (Detroit, Philadelphia), they finish the season in Washington. That means that National League rules will be in effect putting Cleveland at a disadvantage. 

If Cleveland has any hopes of making the postseason they essentially need to sweep the rest of the season. A task much easier said than done. Cleveland tried all season long to thread the needle with a mixture of adding talent while cutting payroll. It does not appear right now that they achieved their goal.