CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Indians won a ballgame Saturday afternoon, but their postseason dreams ended.

Write it down. On Sept. 17, the Indians were eliminated from serious postseason advancement before they even got there.

They have 14 regular season games left and they'll eventually clinch their first AL Central title in nine years. But that's where it ends, because no team can withstand the losses the Indians have suffered over the last nine days.

Danny Salazar grabbed his right forearm on Sept. 9 against the Twins and walked into the off-season. On Saturday, Carlos Carrasco suffered a broken bone in his pitching hand when an Ian Kinsler liner hit him on his second pitch of the game.

"He's done for the year," said manager Terry Francona after Saturday's 1-0 win over the Tigers in 10 innings.

On Wednesday, catcher Yan Gomes was hit by a pitch during a rehab game and suffered a broken right wrist. He was scheduled to join the Indians on Friday. He's done for the season as well.

Along with Corey Kluber, Carrasco and Salazar are the heart of the rotation. Carrasco and Salazar have had starcrossed seasons to be sure. They've each missed a month to injuries, but they still combined for 22 wins, 50 starts and just over 283 innings.

The Indians have no one of equal caliber to replace them.

Headed into the best-of-five AL Division Series it's going to be Kluber and Trevor Bauer. The other two starters are Josh Tomlin and rookie Mike Clevinger. That's reality and that means a quick exit in the postseason.

What fans saw Saturday was a good game between two rivals that know each other well. The Tribe stretched its lead over the Tigers to eight games in the Central, while the Tigers slipped another notch in their quest for a wild card spot.

But it was not reality. The Indians are carrying 36 players, including 13 relievers, because of September's expanded rosters. When Carrasco left after two pitches, Francona went to the bullpen eight times.

What ensued was the most populated shutout in MLB history. The Tribe's nine pitchers held the Tigers to four hits. Only once did Detroit put a runner on third base.

"Carrasco's injury aside, that was a fun game," said Francona. "There was so much good baseball going on. So much good pitching."

No one juggles better than Francona. Just look at the job he's done with the Michael Brantley-less outfield this season. He has platoons in left, center and right field. They're all producing and they all seem happy.

He's even better when it comes to relievers. In his first two years with the Indians, Francona set records for using the pen. But when the postseason starts, it's back to a 25-man roster.

Francona isn't going to be able to cover 10 innings with eight relievers like he did Saturday. He's not going to be able to call bullpen coach Jason Bere after Carrasco's exit and say, "Tell those guys to put their seat belts on. Everybody is going to pitch and we're going to win."

Tomlin and/or Clevinger are going to have to cover some innings against the best of the best. Who knows what the postseason roster will look like? We've already seen a couple of bullpen games going down the stretch; could see another in Game 3 or Game 4 of the division series?

Right now the Indians are operating day to day. Bauer starts Sunday. Monday is an off day followed by a three-game visit by Kansas City. Tomlin will start Tuesday, Kluber Wednesday and Clevinger on Thursday.

"We have no other choice ... we have to find a way to win - no matter who is starting," said lefty Andrew Miller, when asked about handling the loss of Carrasco and Salazar. "It's certainly good that we have a lot of starter depth and we have guys with good stuff.

"We can't change the reality of the situation. We just have to find a way to cope with it. We'll miss them. I think everyone will, but we have to find a way to cope."

Miller was the ninth pitcher to take the mound Saturday. He pitched two scoreless innings for the win. Cody Allen, Bryan Shaw, Perci Garner, Zach McAllister, Cody Anderson, Kyle Crockett and Jeff Manship came on to relieve Carrasco.

The eight relievers struck out 10, walked three and allowed three hits in 10 innings. It was a marvelous performance.

"Just singling someone out in the bullpen today isn't fair," said Miller. "I think top to bottom it was an awesome job."

If only Francona could take them all with him when the postseason starts for real.