Indians Enter All-Star Break 47-40, Fall to Tigers 5-3; Three Takeaways From the Loss

CLEVELAND - The 'first half' of the Major League Baseball season is over, and the Indians enter the All-Star break with a mark of 47-40 following a 5-3 loss to

CLEVELAND - The 'first half' of the Major League Baseball season is over, and the Indians enter the All-Star break with a mark of 47-40 following a 5-3 loss to the Detroit Tigers.

The Indians sent aceCorey Kluber to the mound, and he was matched up with fellow All-Star Michael Fulmer for the Tigers.

The Tigers scratched four runs across after they knocked out Kluber after five, and while the Indians made it a game with a two-run Jose Ramirez blast, it wasn't enough to make it all the way back for the win.

Here's three takeaways from the Sunday night affair at Progressive Field, with a quick glance at what's coming up for the Indians after the All-Star break.

3. Chances Were There

The Indians offense did little to inspire over the first six innings, putting up a single run, but finally Jose Ramirez made his presence felt with a two-run homer to make it a 5-3 game in the 7th.

The team had two great chances to draw even closer or take the lead in those two innings, as they had two on with no outs, but two K's sandwiched with a Fielder's Choice ended that threat.

The Tribe came back to get back to back walks with one out, and then load the bases with two outs for Carlos Santana, who grounded out to third after falling behind in the count.

The game very much could have went the way of the Indians with a big hit, but it was not meant to be as the team fell in what turned out to be a hard fought effort.

2. Kluber Works Through Five

Indians ace Corey Kluber was matched up against another All-Star in Brad Fulmer, and Kluber had to push himself to get through five innings, leaving with the game tied at one.

Kluber did strike out eight, walked three, and allowed one run on three hits. He threw 101 pitches in the five innings of work, and had to get out of a bases loaded jam in the 5th to keep it a 1-1 game.

It wasn't the Kluber Indians fans have seen as of late, but one that still very much kept the team in the game until the pen gave up four Tigers runs over the next two innings.

Kluber won't throw in Tuesday's All-Star game, and instead will get ready for the second half of the season and the teams' west coast trip.

1. How the Team Enters the Break

The Tribe will stroll into the mid-season break at 47-40, five games behind were they were after 87 games a year ago (52-35).

The team does lead the AL Central, but the race to put the division away is far from over, as they are 2.5 up on the Twins, and 3 games up on the Royals.

Fans and media folk will say the team has underachieved, but to a player and even in the eyes of the coaching staff the front office, the best is yet to come for the 2017 Indians.

The team hasn't been as consistent as they want to be, and injuries and even losing their manager for awhile has hurt their run to try and separate themselves in the division.

They will enjoy the next few days, but start a critical west coast stretch to start the second half as they will travel to Oakland on Thursday to play the A's and then head to San Fran to play the Giants.

They come home for the Jays on the 21st, and then host the Reds in a makeup game before three against the Angels to end the homestand.