2013 Cleveland Indians

2013 Cleveland Indians / Franchise: Cleveland Guardians / BR Team Page

Record: 92-70, Finished 2nd in AL Central Division (2013 AL) Wild Card

Clinched Wild Card: September 29, 2013, At Minnesota Twins

Managed by Terry Francona

Coaches: Sandy Alomar, Mickey Callaway, Kevin Cash, Brad Mills, Mike Sarbaugh and Ty Van Burkleo

Ballpark: Progressive Field

History, Comments, Contributions

The 2013 Cleveland Indians started off 7-1 against former Cy Young Award winners; those star hurlers posted a 8.20 ERA against them. The pitchers they beat were R.A. Dickey, David Price, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Bartolo Colon, Justin Verlander and Felix Hernandez; only Jake Peavy had stopped Cleveland. That streak was part of a surprisingly strong start by the team, under new manager Terry Francona: on May 18th, the Indians grabbed sole possession of first place in the AL Central with a record of 24-17, and managed to hold on until May 23rd, which marked Francona's return to Fenway Park, where he had managed the Boston Red Sox to two World Series titles during his tenure as manager that ended in 2011. The return was a triumphant one, as Cleveland won, 12-3, but they lost the next two games to fall back in second, trailing the Detroit Tigers.

The Indians appeared to have fallen out of the postseason race by mid-September, but closed the year on a tremendous hot streak, winning 15 of their last 17 games to not only make the postseason, but claim home field advantage in the 2013 American League Wild Card Game. Rejuvenated ace Ubaldo Jimenez clinched the spot by defeating the Minnesota Twins, 5-1, in the last game of the regular season on September 29th, finishing the season with a record of 13-9. Justin Masterson just back from the disabled list, got the last five outs of the game as he took over for closer Chris Perez, who lost the job he had filled all season after a streak of poor performances down the stretch.

Awards and Honors

• All-Stars: Jason Kipnis and Justin Masterson
• AL Manager of the Year Award: Terry Francona

Source

• Joe Noga: "Clinching days for the Cleveland Indians: 15 times the club celebrated a playoff bid in the last 100 years", Cleveland.com, Sept. 23, 2020

2013 MLB season by team