On Monday evening, after watching as much of the Presidential Debate as we could stand, Tom and I switched to the Cleveland Indians game on STO.  We were just in time for the 9th inning.  We watched with excitement as Cody Allen came in, closed the Tigers down, and the Cleveland Indians clinched the American League Central Division Championship.  We watched them slap backs, hug and celebrate clinching.  We celebrated by exchanging lots of texts with many exclamation points with family members.  Wahoo Tribe!  Way to go!

A week ago, when the Cleveland Indians were previously playing the Detroit Tigers, we attended two of the games.  We bought tickets for the Saturday game months ago but then decided, at the last minute, to also go on Sunday.  My sister Julia had won tickets for the Sunday game and wanted my parents to go, but Tom and I were driving them, so we picked up tickets for Sunday’s game as well.

The Saturday game was very close.  The score was tied at 0 – 0 through the 9th and into extra innings.

Fortunately the Indians scored the one run they needed in the bottom of the 10th.  That was the game that Carrasco started and – the second pitch of the game – the ball was hit back to him and broke his hand.  So the Indians used a different relief pitcher every inning and they were all great!  But great pitching duels like that can be a little boring.

Sunday’s game was a different story.  We were all set for lots of scoring.  Unfortunately, the Tigers did more of it than the Indians.  The final score was 9 to 5 in favor of the Tigers.  But we had great seats right behind home plate.  Maybe the best thing about the game was the pulled pork sandwiches we got at a stand close to where we were sitting.

The Cleveland Indians took over the top spot in the Central Division for good on June 9, about the time the Cleveland Cavaliers were in the NBA championship finals.   I don’t know if the Indians will be able to make it to the World Series – their season has been up and down with lots of injuries – but it is fun to celebrate winning the division with them.  We will certainly be watching their playoff games and cheering them on.  They play as a team, without any big superstars, and will win or lose as a team.  Go Tribe!