June 17, 2005
Cold Heat in Cleveland
Joe Reaves of the Arizona Republic notes the Indians winning ways:
The Indians, who host Arizona tonight in the first game of a weekend interleague series, are one of the hottest teams in the majors, having won six consecutive games.
Since May 9, they've gone step-for-step with Philadelphia for the best record in baseball. Nobody has won more interleague games than the Indians. And only three times in the past month have they lost a game by more than two runs. "It's fun coming to the ballpark," says Cleveland pitching coach Carl Willis, who's responsible for much of the fun.
They're the best AL team since May 9th? I didn't realize that, mostly because they haven't gained much ground in the standings. But it's true.
MLB winning percentage, May 9th on.
| Team |
W |
L |
PCT |
| PHI |
23 |
12 |
0.657 |
| CLE |
22 |
12 |
0.647 |
| WSH |
22 |
13 |
0.629 |
| STL |
22 |
13 |
0.629 |
| CHN |
21 |
13 |
0.618 |
| NYA |
20 |
13 |
0.606 |
| TEX |
18 |
14 |
0.562 |
| CHA |
19 |
15 |
0.559 |
| SD |
19 |
15 |
0.559 |
| LAA |
19 |
15 |
0.559 |
| BAL |
19 |
16 |
0.543 |
| BOS |
18 |
16 |
0.529 |
| MIN |
18 |
16 |
0.529 |
| DET |
17 |
16 |
0.515 |
| TOR |
17 |
17 |
0.500 |
| PIT |
17 |
17 |
0.500 |
| ARI |
17 |
18 |
0.486 |
| NYN |
16 |
18 |
0.471 |
| KC |
16 |
18 |
0.471 |
| FLA |
16 |
19 |
0.457 |
| SEA |
15 |
18 |
0.455 |
| HOU |
15 |
19 |
0.441 |
| CIN |
15 |
21 |
0.417 |
| LAD |
14 |
21 |
0.400 |
| MIL |
14 |
21 |
0.400 |
| ATL |
14 |
21 |
0.400 |
| COL |
14 |
22 |
0.389 |
| OAK |
13 |
21 |
0.382 |
| SF |
12 |
22 |
0.353 |
| TB |
12 |
22 |
0.353 |
Not a great time to play near a bay. :-)
The Indians offense has gotten better, scoring 4.7 runs per game vs. 3.7 per game before that. The pitching's improved even more, with their ERA falling 1 1/2 runs. The problem the Indians had over this stretch was within their own division. They were 3-4 vs. the Twins and 1-2 vs. the White Sox. So half their losses came against the teams they needed to beat. They'll need to turn that around to capture the wild card or the division.
Thanks for commenting on the Indians. Recently the hot play of the Cubs and Nationals have been getting the national headlines, but quietly Cleveland is making some noise in the AL Central. It is now a three-team race for the title with both the White Sox and Twins in contention. This young Indians team struggled early but have found their groove.
The Indians bullpen has been doing very well -- the best ERA in the majors. I noticed something rather odd today -- the difference between the AL bullpens and the NL bullpens is sustantial.
AL Team Bullpen ERA
Cle 2.50
Min 2.91
Det 3.07
Sea 3.27
Chi 3.30
LAA 3.37
Tor 3.90
Bal 3.94
Oak 4.01
NYY 4.14
KC 4.90
Tex 5.11
Bos 5.17
TB 5.31
Ave 3.96
NL Team Bullpen ERA
StL 3.35
SD 3.51
Pitt 3.80
Mil 4.02
Was 4.10
Chi 4.10
NYM 4.20
LAD 4.44
Fla 4.49
Hou 4.53
SF 4.59
Atl 4.64
Cin 5.00
Phi 5.46
Col 5.94
Ari 6.17
Ave 4.52
