CLEVELAND -- Before the mustachioed man shown on the scoreboard chugged an adult beverage, egged on the crowd and then turned and pointed to the “LINDOR 12” on the back of his Indians’ jersey, the Tribe offense was run-less, hitless and listless.

So while the fact that a five-run bottom of the fifth -- capped by a three-run Francisco Lindor homer, no less -- immediately followed Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield’s between-innings booster session from his Progressive Field suite could fall within the realm of coincidence, you’d be hard-pressed to tell that to those in attendance Saturday night. The Indians, who also got homers from Jason Kipnis and Carlos Santana, used the Mayfield-approved big fifth to beat the Angels, 7-2.

• Box score

“We like Mayfield a lot, we love him, and we’re all a fan of him,” Lindor said with his characteristic smile. “And what he did with the beer was impressive.”

On a day that had been all about practice -- Mayfield and Co. holding a typically well-attended scrimmage up on the lake shore and Tribe ace Corey Kluber (forearm) throwing a two-inning simulated session in what is likely his final step before a Minor League rehab assignment -- the Indians shifted attention to the real thing: Their ongoing American League Central race. They continue to put the pressure on the first-place Twins, winning for the 15th time in their last 20 games, having averaged 5.7 runs per game in that stretch.

The addition of Franmil Reyes and Yasiel Puig balances and only further amplifies the lineup, which has gotten consistently good at-bats from the newcomers and familiar faces alike in these two tilts against the Angels.

But until Reyes ripped a one-out double off Trevor Cahill shortly after the Mayfield moment, the Indians couldn’t get anything going initially, despite Angels starter Felix Pena leaving with a sprained right knee in the second inning. Still, as Mayfield, who has become an instant icon in these parts can attest, sometimes eruptions emanate from 0-fers.

The offense ignited once Reyes ended the Angels’ combined no-hit bid, with Kipnis hitting a two-run blast on a line-drive to center field and Lindor following a plunked Kevin Plawecki and a Tyler Naquin single with a long, arching shot that landed just in front of the right-center-field bullpens.

Naturally, the scoreboard feed pivoted right back to Mayfield, who promptly pointed to his Lindor regalia again.

Does Lindor have a Mayfield jersey?

“I’m getting one,” he said with another smile.

In the midst of all this was a solid start from Adam Plutko, who turned in 5 1/3 innings in which he was touched for only a run before turning it over to a largely effective bullpen. Plutko was not only appreciative of the Mayfield support, but pleased to see that the QB didn’t have the same difficulty that Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers recently demonstrated when he failed to complete a beer chug at an NBA playoff game.

“I’m taking Mayfield in the first round [in the Indians’ fantasy draft],” Plutko declared. “I’m glad our quarterback can shotgun a beer, that’s awesome.”

Plutko was filling the rotation spot vacated by Trevor Bauer, who was down in Atlanta making his Reds debut. The Bauer trade recalibrated the Indians’ roster, and, just as the Browns pin so much of their Super Bowl hope on Mayfield’s right arm, the Indians pin so much of their World Series hope on the improved capabilities of a lineup featuring the right-handed bats of Reyes and Puig.

That’s the prevailing takeaway from these last two nights -- the balance, the quality of the approach, the energy on the basepaths, and, of course, the results. The Indians were on a decent offensive role before the Trade Deadline, but now they have the look and feel of a club with a more consistent stash of big innings in it.

On this night, the big inning was the fifth, but the Indians also had a two-run eighth that featured a Santana solo shot, a hustle play in which Jose Ramirez turned a shallow fly ball to left into three bags with the help of a Justin Upton throwing error, and then a long Reyes sacrifice fly for another insurance run.

“To me, that's how you play winning baseball,” manager Terry Francona said. “Yeah, we're going to hit some three-run home runs. But there's gonna be days when you don't, and the kind of effort that we played with, we played a great, spirited game tonight. That was fun to play.”

And getting a backing from the city's quarterback probably didn’t hurt, either.