Baseball: A Two-Way Player

Chapter 696 32: Battle for Earth's Defense

"Earthlings, who can stop the Cleveland Indians?"—This was the headline of the sports section of the New York Times on September 15, 2017. The writer, with this resounding question, expressed his heartfelt respect for the team that has dominated the entire Major League Baseball over the past month.

Starting from a 2-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins in the nightcap of a doubleheader on August 17, up until 24 hours ago with a 3-2 win over the Royals, the Cleveland Indians have not lost a single game in a whole month and 22 games, creating the second-longest 22-game winning streak in Major League history.

After the heartbreak of losing a 3-1 lead in last season's World Series, the Indians, as the 2017 regular season was about to conclude, provided comfort to the Cleveland fans with a historic winning streak—how strong were the Indians during this streak? How hot was their performance on both the offensive and defensive ends? These statistics alone tell the story:

During this 22-game winning streak, the Indians had a run differential of 142-37, which means they almost completely pressed their opponents throughout this winning period, trailing in only 8 of 199 half-innings.

The lineup hit 41 home runs, and the pitching staff allowed only 36 runs: Key second baseman Jose Ramirez had an impressive slash line of .423/.462/.944 during the winning streak, hitting 8 home runs; his infield partner, star shortstop Francisco Lindor, had a striking slash line of .360/.427/.767, and at 22 years old, he became the youngest shortstop to hit 30 home runs since A-Rod in 1999.

Ace pitcher Corey Kluber pitched 32 innings allowing only five runs, with a home ERA of less than 2; second-in-charge Carlos Carrasco delivered supernatural stats in four starts, with a 0.62 ERA, 34 strikeouts, and 1 walk—during the winning streak, the Indians pitching staff threw seven shutouts, the most efficient in the Major League.

Thanks to the exceptional performance of all Indians players on both offense and defense, their team ranking climbed steadily:

When July's All-Star Game had just ended, the Indians were only ranked fifth in the American League, closely chased by the Minnesota Twins in the division, and were 14 games behind the top-seeded Houston Astros in the overall standings;

However, now they have not only surpassed the Houston Astros by 2.5 games but have also elevated their overall Major League ranking to second place, trailing the top-ranked Dodgers by only 4 games—it's important to know that a month ago, this gap was 19.5 games; the Indians cut the difference by 15.5 games in just 17 days; if they can reach the top of the league, they will have home-field advantage throughout all the playoff series.

Actually, for Lin Guanglai's Yankees, this matter originally wasn't particularly significant:

Although the Indians are in the same American League as the Yankees, they are not in the same division, and do not form a direct competition in the playoff ticket race; even if they eventually face off, the Yankees would first need to secure a playoff spot.

But the problem now is that the opponent the Yankees face tonight is the very same Cleveland Indians, who have come to the Bronx on the momentum of a 22-game winning streak, hoping to continue their streak by defeating the Yankees.

After completing a few trades before the July 31 trade deadline, the Yankees effectively addressed their previous weaknesses. In recent times, they have been competing rigorously with their divisional arch-rival Boston Red Sox, with their rankings alternating between first and second place in the American League East Division, basically a cycle of "you take a spot for a few days and then it's my turn."

Facing the league's strongest and most in-form Indians now, if the Yankees lose this series against them, the gap between the Yankees and the Red Sox will widen to at least 2 games—in the final sprint of a season where a single game difference can determine who enters the playoffs directly and who has to go to the Wild Card, this is certainly not good news for the Yankees.

As the divisional arch-rival of the Boston Red Sox, Yankees players, who face them for nearly 20 games every season, are very familiar with the opponent's strength: A 2-game difference seems small, but with few games remaining in the season, the Red Sox will absolutely not give the Yankees any chance to fight back.

So, in this series against the Cleveland Indians, the Yankees must seize the opportunity at home: they must not only try to end the Indians' winning streak but must also aim to win 2 out of the 3 games in the series—only in this way can they maintain their slight lead over the Red Sox and hold the forefront position in the playoff race.

For Lin Guanglai, who is starting in today's game, this match is equally important:

Tonight's game will be Lin Guanglai's 30th of the season, previously boasting an outstanding record of 19 wins and 3 losses, with a WAR (Wins Above Replacement) of 8.1, the best among starting pitchers in the entire American League and even all of MLB—such a performance should suffice to crown him with the Cy Young Award at the end of the season, and his biggest competitor at the moment is none other than the Indians' ace pitcher Corey Kluber, who is also starting tonight.

Owing to the Indians' excellent team performance, Kluber has tremendously "boosted" his stats during the 22-game winning streak, not only competing neck-and-neck with Lin Guanglai in all advanced pitching metrics but also, with their mighty team, directly defeating Chris Sale of the Red Sox and Lin Guanglai's teammate Luis Severino, both direct competitors for the American League Cy Young Award, thereby significantly increasing his presence.