CLEVELAND -- The Indians may have been no-hit twice in a 21-game span, but the bats were sure to prove on Saturday that the offense still has plenty of life in it.

After getting no-hit by Wade Miley on Friday night, the offense was ready for revenge on Saturday in the Indians’ 9-2 drubbing of the Reds at Progressive Field, keeping the Ohio Cup up for grabs.

“I think that’s all what the Indians have been for many years is going at each day as its own and attacking each day like nothing happened the day before,” Indians starter Aaron Civale said. “I think the way we have the ability to do that is special. That’s not always the case."

Cleveland dropped two of three against Cincinnati earlier this season at Great American Ball Park, with one of those losses coming from a ninth-inning error. But after this series was already highlighted with a no-hitter, the two teams still have one game remaining, as the title will either go back to the Reds for the first time since 2014, or the Indians will retain the Cup by forcing a season split on Sunday.

Since the season started, Indians manager Terry Francona has been blunt with the fact that his offense will need production from every guy in the lineup in order to have a successful year. The roster isn’t built to rely on one or two heavy hitters (even though José Ramírez and Franmil Reyes have done their best to do so), and the team saw exactly what can happen when more hitters join in on the fun, as everyone in Cleveland’s lineup logged at least one hit except for Amed Rosario.

“You know Josey and Franmil are going to get some home runs and big hits,” Francona said. “But when we can manufacture some runs at the bottom of the order, it certainly helps.”

Step two of the Indians' recipe to success is the team’s ability to score runs without relying on the long ball. Of the team’s 18 wins, 15 of them included at least one blast. But this time, Cleveland picked up its third win of the year without launching a homer, and the big hit of the night came off the bat of Cesar Hernandez for his first triple of the season.

As Francona has said many times, it’s important to get help from all spots of the lineup, but it may be even more essential that the team gets a spark from its leadoff guy. The Indians were hoping to bring Hernandez back for the 2021 season after he was, arguably, one of (if not the most) consistent bat in Cleveland’s lineup in 2020. Maybe he wasn’t ready for the weather of Northeast Ohio in April, considering Opening Day last year was in July, but ever since the calendar flipped to May, Hernandez has started to settle back in at the plate.

“Cesar's going to hit,” Francona said. “You've heard me say it a million times, it'll be fun watching him get to his level. He's starting to feel a little better about himself, which is good.”

In his last seven games, Hernandez has hit .276 with a .793 OPS. If the Indians can receive steady production at the top of the lineup to mix in with the constant threat of José Ramírez, Eddie Rosario and Franmil Reyes in the heart of the order, this offense becomes way more dangerous, as it proved to be on Saturday. The Hernandez triple opened up the floodgates, plating three runs before Cleveland tacked on three more runs later in the night.

“Yeah, without a doubt, it’s trusting myself,” Hernandez said, through team interpreter Agustin Rivero, when asked how he’s gotten through his rough stretches. “It’s a long season, and also, I’m very aware of what I’m capable of doing.”

The nine runs on 11 hits the Indians racked up against the Reds handed them their 17th victory of the season when scoring at least four runs. That 17-1 is an MLB best with a .944 win percentage, which shows how solid the rotation is and how dominant the bullpen has been as long as it receives just enough support.

Although this offense has clearly hit its ruts -- and has gone as cold as possible twice already this season -- it’s building the foundation of possessing one of the most essential qualities to last a 162-game marathon: Resiliency.

“It makes everyone want to come to the field each day and play with the guys around them,” Civale said. “Because it’s not just one guy doing it, it’s everybody.”