Indians Are Riding High, but the Schedule Is Key to a Big Cleveland Finish

Those who suggest the Cleveland Indians are in a pennant race have not looked at the schedule closely enough, says Andre Thornton.

“Things are going to get awfully sticky over the next month,” the Indians’ veteran designated hitter said. “Sure, we’re five or six games out of first now, but we haven’t really begun to fight in our own division yet. If this was the end of August, it’d be a different situation.”

The Indians’ 7-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night was their fifth in six games and pulled them within five games of first-place Boston in the AL East. It also put Cleveland 10 games over .500 for the first time since 1974.

The mid-season success, however, has come against the weak AL West. The Indians have played 41 straight games against Western Division teams, registering a 27-14 mark.

After four games at Texas this weekend, Cleveland must play 42 straight games against the tougher AL East, which has six of seven teams playing above .500.

“If, at the end of August, we’re still in this position, then we can say we’re in a pennant race,” Thornton said. “I just hope we don’t start looking at it more than one game at a time.”

Thornton stops short of ruling out any possibility of contention for the Indians.

“This is the best assemblage of players I’ve ever been with in terms of potential,” the 12-year veteran said. “The exciting thing is that you cannot gauge what they might be able to do. They haven’t had the chance to set standards of production year in and year out.

“From that standpoint--because we are a young ballclub--this (winning) might be contagious. These guys are ambitious. They want to show people they’re good. They want the money. They want the stardom.”

The Indians have been getting decent pitching and surprisingly consistent hitting from young players pieced together mostly through trades.

Third baseman Brook Jacoby (.274, 11 homers, 53 RBI) and center fielder Brett Butler (56 runs scored) came from Atlanta for Len Barker in 1983, and outfielders Joe Carter (.313, 16 homers, 64 RBI) and Mel Hall (.295, 17 homers, 57 RBI) came from the Cubs for Rick Sutcliffe in 1984.

They helped the Indians put together a 10-game winning streak in April and May that boosted the team’s confidence, but the streak was followed by nine losses in the next 10 games.

Manager Pat Corrales thinks that sudden turnabout helped mature the team.

“They’d gotten a taste of losing a lot over the last two years,” Corrales said. “Then they got a taste of winning early this year. They thought they were going to win 135 straight. And then they got deflated. Now, they realize you’ve got to keep an even keel.

“It seems like now, they’ll carry one win over to the next day, but they won’t carry a loss into the next day.”