Any team can win when your ace pitches a shutout and your defense is stellar. But what happens when your ace can’t find the edge of the zone and your defense belly flops into an open lake? Teams that can still grind out wins in those types of games find themselves leading their division more often than not.
That’s exactly where Cleveland finds themselves after their 5-4, come-from-behind win over the Royals.
It was a slow start all around for the current AL Central leaders, as Royals hitters attacked Shane Bieber early in the count to tally some long innings, and the Cleveland offense had a tinge of “we’re about to be no-hit again” energy to them.