Throughout the first half of the season, the Minnesota Twins have felt comfortable on top of the American League Central division. Almost leading from wire-to-wire, the Twins have seen their lead atop the division balloon up to 11 1/2 games and the Indians never seemed like a threat to the point where there were rumors of Cleveland waving the white flag at the trade deadline.
Just as the Twins seemed to have a chokehold on the division, the Indians began to heat up. Cleveland has put together a record of 22-8 in their past 30 games and has gone from being 29-30 to 50-38 at the All-Star break.