[Westside]

By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com [email]phoynes@cleveland.com[/email]
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The party is over. Reality finally ran down the Indians.

Here's the good news. A bigger party is just around the corner. It's called the postseason and the Indians already have a ticket.

But as far as pre-parties go, it will be hard to top a 22-game winning streak. The Indians started partying on Aug. 24 and they never heard someone yell "closing time" until they lost to Kansas City, 4-3, on Friday night at Progressive Field.

The 22-game steak, the second longest in baseball's modern era (since 1900), lasted 22 days. That's three weeks of doing nothing but winning baseball games. Three weeks of turning a 41/2-game lead in the AL Central into 131/2-game bullet train toward October.

Along the way they swept the Royals, the Yankees, the Tigers (twice), the White Sox and Orioles. They outscored the opposition, 142-37, and became the center of the baseball universe. Some in the media called them "America's Team."

The Indians. Can you imagine that?

But Friday night it was back to baseball. Trevor Bauer, who started the streak with an improbable win over Chris Sale and the Red Sox on Aug. 24, pulled down the curtain on Friday.

Bauer (16-9, 4.41) struggled through 5 1/3 innings. He was 9-0 in his last 11 starts coming into the game, but could never quite get the Royals under his control. The Indians, meanwhile, fell victim to an old foe -- lefty Jason Vargas.


Vargas (16-10, 4.19) wasn't a whole lot better than Bauer, but he got the outs he needed to get over five innings. He's 2-3 against the Tribe this year and 9-5 in his career.

Friday's loss means the 1916 New York Giants still hold the baseball's longest winning streak at 26 games. But who knows, the Indians might be back next year. They won 14 straight in 2016 and set the American League record this year. The ghost of John McGraw, the Giants manager, best beware.

Where do Indians go from here? Terry Francona says "up!"
In the streak's 22 games, the Indians scored first 19 times. They did so again on Friday.

Francisco Lindor opened the first inning with a double off the wall in left center. After Austin Jackson walked, Jose Ramirez advanced the runners with a grounder to first. Edwin Encarnacion's sacrifice fly put the Indians ahead, 1-0.

Kansas City answered quickly, making it 1-1 on a homer by Alcides Escobar with one out in the second. Escobar, who hit a hanging 2-2 breaking ball, came into the game hitting .318 (7-for-22) against Bauer.

Alex Gordon followed Escobar with a double, but Bauer pitched out of the jam.

Ramirez gave the Indians a 3-1 lead with a two-run homer off Vargas in the third. Jackson started the surge with a double to left. It was Ramirez's 27th homer and gave him 75 RBI.


Bauer, on this night, couldn't put the game in lockdown mode. He worked a scoreless third, but allowed a leadoff homer to Brandon Moss in the fourth to make it 3-2.

Kansas City, five games out of the second wild-card spot at the start of the night, pulled even in the fifth. Lorenzo Cain doubled with one out and scored on Eric Hosmer's single to left. Bauer ended the inning by striking out Moss with runners on first and third.

The Royals took the lead, 4-3, in the sixth. Bauer struck out Escobar to start the inning, but Gordon singled as Joe Smith relieved. Smith struck out Drew Butera, but allowed consecutive singles to Whit Merrifield and Lorenzo Cain to bring Gordon home.

Bauer, in his first two starts against the Royals this year, didn't allow a run in eight innings. He allowed four on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings on Friday.

http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf...y_152.html