Indians rule AL Central

CLEVELAND – Francisco Lindor planned to pour a bottle of water over his head. On Sunday, he’ll switch to champagne.

For the second year in a row, the Cleveland Indians are AL Central champions.

A few hours after they beat Kansas City 8-4 in the first game since the Royals stopped their AL record winning streak at 22, the Indians clinched the division title when second-place Minnesota lost to Toronto.

When their second crown became official, the Indians were long gone from Progressive Field, leaving the ballpark to spend time with family or toast a memorable week. In Lindor’s case, he was set to eat pizza and watch the boxing match between Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez.

Lindor said if the Twins lost he would dump water on himself before focusing on the fight.

The bout figured to be close. The Indians knocked out the Twins, Royals, Tigers and White Sox.

This is the Indians’ ninth Central title and the first time they’ve won consecutive division titles since 1999, when they finished a run of five straight first-place finishes with dominant teams. None of those teams won the Series, either.

While Cleveland’s historic winning streak is no longer the talk of baseball, Lindor’s on a personal roll that’s become notable.

The All-Star’s double in the sixth off Jason Hammel (8-12) gave him an extra-base hit in 10 straight games – a club record and four shy of the major league mark of 14, shared by Chipper Jones (2006) and Paul Waner (1927).

“I didn’t even know that,” Lindor said. “I saw it on the scoreboard.”

Carlos Carrasco (16-6) pitched into the seventh and Edwin Encarnacion hit his 35th homer as the Indians improved to 32-5 in their last 37 games.