There are several points in every baseball season where it's time to take stock of the races—find out who's who and what's what in both the divisional and wild-card battles.
Even with seven weeks to go until the playoffs, it's not too early to ask if the Indians' recent surge truly means they're World Series threats. There's no better measuring stick than the current four-game series with the powerhouse Yankees.
Bludgeoning New York to the tune of a 19-5 victory on Thursday night was quite a good start to making that statement.
Even after losing two of three to the Red Sox earlier this week, the Tribe are the hottest team in baseball, going 44-19 since June 2.