The Cleveland Indians just beat the Baltimore Orioles 3-2 in front of a national audience on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball to extend their winning streak to 18 games.
The win gives the Tribe the best record in the AL after the Houston Astros fell victim to a four game sweep by the last place Oakland A's. On August 23rd, the Indians were beat 6-1 by the Boston Red Sox. If there was any team that looked like it could challenge the Astros for the league's best overall record it was the Bosox who were four games back of the Astros in that category. The Tribe, although leading the Twins in the AL Central by 4.5 games, was 11.5 games back of the Astros for the best overall record. The Indians have gone 18-0 since August 23rd while the Astros and Red Sox have gone 11-8 and 8-9, respectively.
If the Indians finish the season with the best record in the AL then they will play the winner of the AL Wild Card Game in the ALDS. Up until now it looked like they would face the Red Sox in the ALDS. Of course that could still be the case if the Sox fall out of the lead in the AL East and win the AL Wild Card game.
Of course, the Tribe have won 18 straight games, but there are now 19 games to go. They could come back down to earth like the Los Angeles Dodgers have recently and this streak could be but a mere footnote.
On the other hand, the Indians could also make MLB history. If they eclipse the 2002 Oakland A's streak of 20 games then they will set an AL record. A 21 game winning streak would match the 1935 Chicago Cubs. The MLB record is 26 wins by the 1916 New York Giants although there is an asterisk because there was a tie game during that streak.
It should be noted that none of the teams I mentioned won the World Series however. If you gave Indians players the choice of having the streak end tomorrow and winning the team's first World Series since 1948 I think they would take that trade off in a second. But then again why not do both?
The Tribe resumes their home stand tomorrow night with a three game series against the Detroit Tigers. A sweep of the Tigers would give them the AL record for consecutive wins. But one game at a time.
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