Now is the time: Indians' offense awakens

Entering Friday night, the Cardinals’ pitching staff had held opposing hitters to just a .184 batting average, which seemed like a recipe for disaster for the Indians, who held the fourth-worst team batting average in the Major Leagues. Instead, the bats erupted for the Tribe’s biggest offensive game of the

Entering Friday night, the Cardinals’ pitching staff had held opposing hitters to just a .184 batting average, which seemed like a recipe for disaster for the Indians, who held the fourth-worst team batting average in the Major Leagues. Instead, the bats erupted for the Tribe’s biggest offensive game of the season.

Backed by a five-RBI night from Franmil Reyes, the Indians set season highs in hits (20) and runs in a 14-2 rout of the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The victory forced a three-way tie with the White Sox and Twins atop the American League Central with under one month remaining in the regular season.

• Box score

If there’s any time for a team that had owned a collective .217 batting average heading into the three-game set in St. Louis to find its groove, it’s now. The Indians were coming off a series victory over Minnesota earlier this week, and they knew they’d be tested against the pitching staff that had the third-best team ERA heading into the series opener.

While Reyes has been steady through the month of August, hitting .394 with 19 RBIs and a 1.147 OPS over his last 19 games, the Tribe started to see some positive signs that the rest of the lineup may be starting to heat up. Along with Reyes, Roberto Pérez and Delino DeShields each recorded three-hit nights, while José Ramírez, Francisco Lindor and Carlos Santana each picked up two hits — with Santana and Tyler Naquin adding two-run home runs.

The offensive outburst gave young starter Triston McKenzie some breathing room in his second Major League start, as he gave up two runs on three hits in four frames.