Indians Sweep Angels with 4-1 Win; Three Takeaways From the Win

It was just another day at the office for the Cleveland Indians.

The Tribe topped the L.A. Angels, 4-1, to sweep the season series 6-0.

Two homers would be all Cleveland needed on Thursday to take their lead and earn their 27th win in 28 games. Zach McAllister led the way for the bullpen and earned his second win of the year.

Before the Indians take on the Seattle Mariners in another three-game set, here are our three takeaways from today's game.

1. Long ball success

The Indians would score all four of their runs on two hits.

The first came in the second inning, as Edwin Encarnacion tied the game at one with a solo homer off of a 78.5 mph curveball to left field. It was the 37th time this year that Encarnacion has gotten to walk the parrot.

Both teams were in a stalemate for the next two innings, until Francisco Lindor stepped to the plate with one out and two on in the top of the fifth.

Prior to Lindor's at-bat, Yan Gomes and Giovanny Urshela each recorded singles. That put Lindor in a great position to rock a 90.6 mph fastball to center field to give the Indians their 4-1 lead.

The Indians have now hit 200 home runs for the year, the most since they hit 207 in 2005.

2. Bullpen grunt work

Danny Salazar got his first start since the beginning of the month, but was on a limited pitch count. Salazar's afternoon ended after two and two-thirds innings. He gave up two hits, one earned run, walked two and struck out four on 54 total pitches.

As a result of his pitch count, the bullpen took over and had an impressive afternoon. They went a combined six and one-third innings, giving up three hits, three walks and zero runs. They also struck out seven.

Zach McAllister and Dan Otero took the largest chunk of that, each pitching one and two-thirds innings. McAllister earned the win and is now 2-2 for the season.

Tyler Olson came in to pitch the ninth, as Cody Allen was given the day off, and earned his first big league save. His first 26 appearances as a major leaguer have been scoreless.

3. What's next?

With the win, the Indians head to Seattle for their final regular-season series on the road. Trevor Bauer will be on the mound tomorrow.

The Indians now have 96 wins with nine games remaining, meaning the team has a chance to get 100 wins for the first time since 1995, and just the third time in the history of the franchise.

That looks pretty promising, considering that in the last 28 games, the Indians are 27-1.

Over those games, Cleveland has outscored opponents 172-56. The starters have posted a 2.06 ERA, while the bullpen has posted a 1.64 ERA.

They've also now won 14 straight on the road, setting a new franchise record. Their overall road record of 51-27 is the best in MLB.

All of this is to say that the Indians aren't just beating teams-- they are dominating them.

This becomes even more impressive, considering the fact that they saw their 22-game win streak come to an end last Friday, but have remained laser-focused and won their last five.

And anyone who's saying this team peaked too soon? Hasn't been paying attention.