Gomes Lifts Tribe To 9-3 Win Over Twins In Game One Of Doubleheader; Three Takeaways From The Victory

The Cleveland Indians took the field early Thursday afternoon for the first of two games against the Minnesota Twins. The Tribe was looking to continue their five-game winning streak and finish off another series victory before heading to Kansas City for another AL Central divisional tilt against the Royals, who are very much in the AL Wild Card race with along with the Twins. The Tribe took care of business in game one Thursday, with jabs of offense and a gritty performance by Carlos Carrasco lifting the Tribe to a 9-3 victory.

Here are our three takeaways from the Indians first game on Thursday.

1. Gomes Leads The Offense- The Tribe have been finding offense from all parts of the lineup when they need it and today, Yan Gomes came up big for the Tribe. Gomes went 3-for-3 at the plate in game one today, including a three-run blast in the 7th inning to make it a 7-3 ballgame at one point. It is super encouraging to see Gomes hitting the ball so well as of late and can definitely help his confidence as the team marches on to October.

2. Cookie Grinds Through Five Innings- Carlos Carrasco had a rather weird start to his outing Thursday afternoon, when the right-hander threw upwards of thirty pitches in the first inning. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Carrasco worked himself out of a jam with no runs scoring. And though it wasn't the prettiest beginning for Carrasco, he rebounded to throw five innings and strike out nine batters while allowing only one run and one walk. Carrasco is now 12-5 on the year and is looking incredible every time he heads out to the mound.

3. Strikeouts Galore- The Indians tied a franchise-record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game, with 19 punchouts on the day for the pitching staff. Carrasco, Bryan Shaw, Tyler Olson, Cody Allen and Nick Goody all stifled the Twins' offense for most of the game and the staff will look to do so later tonight.

Though it is a smaller streak of sorts right now, the Indians are riding a six-game winning streak and have a chance to make it a lucky seven in game two of the doubleheader against the Twins. Ryan Merritt takes the mound for the Tribe and can help them carry a lot of momentum into Kansas City with a victory in the night portion of Indians baseball.