Cleveland Indians Win 21 Straight, Longest Streak In AL History

CLEVELAND, OH — The Cleveland Indians are now the owners of the longest winning streak in American League history. Despite a middle-of-the-game comeback effort and the left field sprinklers turning on during the game, the Tribe beat the Detroit Tigers 5-3 Wednesday to run their streak to 21 straight victories.

Cleveland surpassed the famous "Moneyball" Oakland Athletics team that won 20 straight games in 2002. Now the Tribe sits alone atop the AL record books for most consecutive wins. The Indians are only chasing the 23 straight wins notched by the 1935 Chicago Cubs, and the 1916 New York Giants, who won 26 consecutive games.

The Indians move to 90 wins on the season, the best record in the AL. The Tribe is still chasing the slumping Los Angeles Dodgers who, despite going 1-9 in their last 10 games, have a record of 93-52. The team with the best record in baseball would have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. (To stay up to date on these stories, subscribe to the Patch Cleveland newsletter. As news breaks and the story develops, you will be the first to receive updates from Patch.)

Wednesday's win seemed fated early on, even if things got wacky. Mid-season acquisition Jay Bruce hit a three-run home run in the first inning to give the Indians a 3-1 lead. Edwin Encarcion singled in the third inning to push the lead to 4-1.

Mike Clevinger started the game for the Indians. He gave up one run in the first before clamping down for the next four innings. He gave up two more runs in the fifth and was relieved by Nick Goody. Buck Farmer started for the Tigers and could do nothing to slow down the Tribe's offense, giving up four runs in four innings of work, including the first inning bomb from Bruce. Roberto Perez added a solo homer for the Tribe.

The game was not without controversy or wonkiness. The plate umpire ejected Tigers' catcher James McCann and manager Brad Ausmus for arguing over how pitches were being called.

Then an apparently errant pitch struck the umpire.

Then in the fifth inning, in a scene straight out of a screwball comedy, the left field sprinklers kicked on, spraying jets of water over players' heads. Tigers left fielder Alex Presley didn't seem bothered by the impromptu shower, but the sprinklers were quickly turned off, and the game returned to normal.

Cleveland will play the Kansas City Royals on Thursday at Progressive Field.

Meanwhile, the Tribe's official Twitter account will have to add another "W" to its handle.

Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images