The Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals continued their strong post-All-Star break surges with respective four-game sweeps over fellow American League Central adversaries.
The Indians and Royals aim to continue their runs of good fortune at the other's expense on Friday when they open a three-game series in Cleveland.
Cleveland brought out the brooms on Thursday and recorded its fifth straight win and 11th in 13 contests with a 6-3 victory over Detroit. The win moved the Indians a season-best 15 games over .500.
Jose Ramirez belted a go-ahead two-run homer in the sixth inning and drove in three runs. The 26-year-old enters the series opener against Kansas City with a 10-game hitting streak, during which he is 15-for-41 with four homers, 12 RBIs and 10 runs scored.
Cleveland avenged a sweep at the hands of Kansas City in April by winning two of three from the Royals in late June and posting a sweep on July 2-4.
Like the Indians, Kansas City completed a four-game sweep on Thursday with a 6-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox. The win was the Royals' sixth in seven games since the All-Star break.
"We're playing really good ball right now," Kansas City right-hander Brad Keller said. "The offense is alive and killing it right now. The starters and relievers are doing their job. The break helped us, I think."
The Royals are hitting .330 as a team and scored 49 runs in seven games since the All-Star break.
"The vibes in the clubhouse got a lot better," Kansas City reliever Tim Hill said. "It's definitely a different energy, and it's good."
Whit Merrifield, who saw his 15-game hitting streak halted on Thursday, will look to get back on track against Cleveland right-hander Shane Bieber (8-3, 3.49 ERA).
Bieber returned from capturing Most Valuable Player honors in the All-Star Game with a no-decision versus Minnesota on Sunday.
