Tribe lose to Snell and the Rays 3-1

Tampa Bay starting pitcher Blake Snell held the Indians offense to one hit this afternoon.

Tampa Bay- The Cleveland Indians and Tampa Bay Rays met Wednesday afternoon for the series finale, the Rays defeated the Indians 3-1. Tampa Bay benefited from a fantastic start by Blake Snell.

Snell held the Indians hitless through the first seven innings, until Jose Ramirez broke things up with a shot to left field. Snell would finish the seventh, and that would be his afternoon as he exited the game allowing only one hit and holding a 3-1 lead.

The man who broke the Indians backs on Monday, got things going Wednesday when he a two run home run in the second inning. The Rays last run was courtesy of a Kevin Kiermaier sac fly.

The Indians return home for their last homestand of the season as the Detroit Tigers come to town this weekend.

Continue on to see some takeways from today's 3-1 Indians loss.

1) Carrasco was good. Snell was great.

Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco pitched seven strong innings Wednesday afternoon, finishing with an impressive ( 3ER, 5Ks, 6H.) Which is a very good start, one that Indians fans should feel happy about, especially with the firepower the Tribe features on offense. The only problem?

Blake Snell.

Wednesday afternoon was Snell's best start of his career. The left went seven innings and held a no hitter going into the seventh inning, two walks kept him from a perfect game. That is until Jose Ramirez hit his first home run in 23 games. Snell struck out nine Indians, and improved his win total to 19. He's definitely a dark horse for the AL Cy-Young.

The Ray's offense didn't do much against Carrasco. The Indians offense did even less against Snell.

2) Good Signs

Cleveland Indians relief pitcher Andrew Miller has looked very sharp in his two appearances since returning from the DL.

Cleveland Indians relief pitcher Andrew Miller again looked really good in the eighth inning. Miller has pitched twice since returning from the DL, and both outings he's looked more like the Andrew Miller of old. While two appearances is a small sample size, it is still a good sign for the Indians going forward.

Another man who hasn't been quite like himself lately is Jose Ramirez. The slugger had been in the middle of a home run drought. Ramirez had gone 23 games between his 37th and 38th home runs. Getting this monkey off the back with the season winding down should give him time to get back into a groove heading into October.

3) Magic Number update

Unfortunately the Cleveland Indians will have to wait a few more days until the AL Central is officially theirs. Wednesdays loss keeps the Tribes magic number at 3, with the Minnesota Twins playing the New York Yankees tonight.

If the Twins lose their next two (NYY, KC) the Indians could clinch things tomorrow night with a win.

If the Twins split their next two, the Indians can clinch with two wins.

If the Twins win their next two, then it would take three more wins from the Indians. Obviously there are a lot of scenarios we could go over, but these are some the easier ways for the Indians.