Dan Hiner: Indians on rise at the break

Last week, downtown Cleveland underwent a change from a major city to the home of baseball’s All-Star Game.

MLB’s Play Ball Park was slowly assembled overseeing FirstEnergy Stadium as the break grew closer.

Over a three-day span, fans participated in softball, ziplining, concerts and more.

Fans began filing into Progressive Field on Sunday. They filled half the park for the All-Star Futures Game and Celebrity Softball Game. The venue was filled for the Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game was standing room only.

The excitement around the Mid-Summer Classic was a fitting metaphor for the Indians’ season.

Indians first baseman Carlos Santana got cheers while Mets rookie Pete Alonso got jeers on Monday. The support continued Tuesday night for Santana, shortstop Francisco Lindor, pitchers Shane Bieber and Brad Hand and honorary coach Terry Francona.

The pregame ceremony ended with a pocket of fans chanting, “Lets go Tribe!” in the right-field corner. The crowd broke out into chants of “Lets go Bieber!” prior to the right-hander striking out the side in order in the fifth.

Stark contrasts from earlier in the season.

Owner Paul Dolan couldn’t buy an above-.500 record in April and May. Attendance was a concern as the team struggled.

Fans voiced displeasure with the roster and a lack of hitting. Injuries to pitchers Mike Clevinger and Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco’s leukemia diagnosis didn’t help.

Cleveland trailed the Minnesota Twins by 111/2 games at one point. However, Francona worked his magic and McGyver-ed together a playoff contender with the help of some young blood.

Oscar Mercado alleviated some of the frustration from Michael Brantley’s departure. Aaron Civale, Zach Plesac and Bieber received praise for their pitching performances.

Slowly the Indians won over the fans.

Cleveland entered the break on a six-game win streak. The Indians are 51/2 games back of the Twins and a half game behind the Rays for the top wild-card spot.

The Indians open the second half Friday with a three-game series with Minnesota. The Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals follow to cap a 10-game home stand.

The Twins and the Houston Astros are the only teams with winning records to cross the Indians’ path the rest of July.

On Monday and Tuesday, the crowds were filled with Hand, Lindor and Jose Ramirez jerseys to name a few. Heck, there were even a few Ricky Vaughn jerseys.

Few seats were available at Progressive Field over the past few days.

Indians Twitter has gone silent. Questions regarding the team’s hitting or why Brantley, Yan Gomes and Cody Allen are gone have faded.

But will Tribe fans be content with Twitter praise, or will we see butts in the seats similar to the last few days?

Recent history says it will be another slow build to sellout crowds. But if the Indians start strong in the second half, good seats might become hard to find again.

Write Vindicator sportswriter Dan Hiner at dhiner@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @DanHiner_Sports.