Tribe Overcome Mighty Machado and O's

Despite dropping the first game of their series at Camden Yards, the Indians won their next three to clinch a four-game set against the Orioles, taking their overall record to 12-8. With a week still left in April, the Tribe have already established a slim lead in the AL Central, with all of their rivals currently sporting sub-.500 records.

Let's take a look at some of the talking points from the Indians' successful trip to Baltimore:

Rotation Domination

I'm running out of superlatives for this pitching staff. Everyone knew heading into this season that the strength of this team lay in the rotation, but it still astounds me that they can be this good.

Even in the Indians' 3-1 loss to begin the series on Friday, the quality of the pitching performance by Trevor Bauer was still better than what most of the league can trot out every fifth day. Bauer was on the hook for the loss that night, but his performance was decent: 7 innings of work, 5 hits and 3 walks given up for 3 earned runs, one of them a homer off the red-hot bat of Manny Machado (more on him later). Bauer had 6 strikeouts as well, and over four starts this year has a tidy total of 27 K's in 27 innings. He's off to a great start this season, and this loss is just a case of poor luck. The offense took a night off and couldn't support Bauer, and he was unfortunately matched up against Dylan Bundy, who was absolutely dealing Friday night, with that nasty slider of his.

Saturday afternoon saw the Tribe back on track, with Mike Clevinger having a career day on the mound, pitching his first complete game shutout in a 4-0 win. Clevinger, who has struggled with high pitch counts in the past, was completely locked in against the Orioles, utterly dominant for nine scoreless frames, allowing just 2 measly hits and 2 walks, with 3 strikeouts. It was a seriously impressive performance from the 27 year-old right-hander, who is off to an amazing start in 2018.

Corey Kluber got the nod on Sunday afternoon and pitched well in the Baltimore sunshine, picking up his third win of the campaign in the Indians' 7-3 victory. Kluber lasted 7 innings, surrendering 6 hits for 3 earned runs, to go along with 4 strikeouts. It wasn't a vintage Kluber display but, like most teams, the Orioles' lineup still struggled to give him much trouble. All except Machado (again), who tagged the Tribe ace for 3 hits on the day, including 2 home runs. Machado's first home run of the day simply destroyed the baseball, with an exit velocity recorded at 107.9 mph. Sheesh...

Carlos Carrasco was sent to seal the series win on Monday night and he delivered, pitching beautifully in a tight 2-1 Indians win. In yet another pitching duel, Carrasco prevailed over Kevin Gausman, allowing 6 hits for 1 run over 7.1 innings, with 7 strikeouts and 2 walks. Carrasco preserved his perfect record and is now a clean 4-0 to start the season. He constantly mixed his pitches to induce swings and misses, and gave the Baltimore lineup nightmares all evening.

Manny Mania Is A Real Thing

Manny Machado was a one man wrecking crew throughout this series, and did everything he could to help his Orioles to victory. Thankfully for Indians fans his efforts were in vain, but Machado is an interesting talking point.

Over 4 games and 16 plate appearances, Machado batted .500 with 6 hits, 4 walks, and smashed 3 mammoth home runs. These weren't home runs that just cleared the fences, these were absolute monsters, with two of them coming off reigning AL Cy Young winner Kluber. That's no easy feat.

On the season so far, Machado is batting .360 with 8 home runs, tied for second in the league, only trailing Mike Trout (who has 9). He has 14 walks and 15 strikeouts, a relatively promising ratio for such a young slugger.

Baltimore have surely resigned themselves to losing Machado, as the 25 year-old is a free agent at the end of this season. His availability was a hot topic at the Winter Meetings, with trade rumors for the O's franchise player doing the rounds. Surprisingly, Machado stayed put, but most observers don't expect he will last the season at Camden Yards, and will be dealt to a contender by mid-summer.

Could the Indians be one of those contenders? Will they enter the race for "Manny Machado, Super-Rental?"

Because that's exactly what he would be, a 4-5 month rental player, available to the highest bidder at the end of October. Realistically, the Indians will not be one of those bidders, as a player of Machado's quality will be far too expensive and command too much for Cleveland's modest bank balance.

Which leaves the question, would a trade for Machado on a short-term basis be worth it?

Baltimore would obviously demand a high ransom for their star player but if Machado is the last piece of the puzzle to clinch a World Series, then you have to consider going all-in. In my opinion, Machado is a talent that could swing a World Series in Cleveland's favor.

For fun, let's look at a possible trade scenario:

• Indians receive: Manny Machado SS 
• Orioles receive: Jason Kipnis 2B, Triston McKenzie RHP

Before you come at me with flaming torches and pitchforks, just hear me out.

McKenzie is considered by most analysts to be the Indians' top pitching prospect, a 6-5 starter who throws a 90-95 fastball with unbelievable location, and an excellent curveball. At just 20 years-old, McKenzie is the kind of prospect a General Manager like Dan Duquette could fall in love with.

So why include Kipnis I hear you ask? Adding Machado would create a real logjam in the infield, so someone has to make room and as much as I love Kip, he's the odd man out in this hypothetical situation.

Machado would take over duties at third base, with Lindor staying put at shortstop, and Jose Ramirez naturally replaces Kipnis at second base, a position he has displayed considerable ability at as recently as 2017. I would be very conflicted to lose Kipnis, but in truth, I think most Tribe fans would rank Ramirez above him, which makes Kipnis expendable (it hurts just typing that).

Do I make this trade if I'm Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff? In a heartbeat.

I'm firmly of the belief that Machado is the kind of player that could tip the scales in Cleveland's favor. With a dominant rotation already in place, and with elite bullpen pieces like Andrew Miller and Cody Allen in support, Machado would take the Indians to the next level.

I'm clearly all-in on Machado, and the Indians should give serious consideration towards joining me.

Making Moves For Melky

A final piece of news to end this longer-than-usual series recap: Melky Cabrera has been signed on a minor-league contract. The switch-hitting veteran is expected to report to Triple-A Columbus after a physical has been completed, and he will be looking to add some pop to the Tribe's outfield.

In 2017 Cabrera slashed .285/.324/.423 (BA/OBP/SLG) with 17 home runs and 85 RBI in 156 games, split between the Royals and White Sox. At the very least, he could offer some depth support if our current outfield options get hurt or under-perform.

The biggest question mark with Cabrera is his defense, and the numbers certainly don't like his glovework: in 2017 he had a -20 DRS rating and an overall UZR/150 of -11.4. I'm not a firm believer in defensive metrics telling the entire story, but Cabrera's stats don't exactly fill you with confidence.

Overall, I think he could be a useful signing, and honestly it's surprising nobody picked him before the Indians did. With Lonnie Chisenhall still out of action for the foreseeable future, having Cabrera as an option is not a bad way to go, and comes with very little risk.

Tribe and Twins Split Puerto Rico Series

Having not played since Friday night because their weekend games against Toronto were cancelled due to the inhospitable Cleveland weather, the Indians were raring to go when they arrived in the homeland of Francisco Lindor and Roberto Perez.

Playing a two-game series in legendary Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the warmer climate appeared to re-energize this Indians squad, and the environment certainly reignited their bats (for the opening game at least!)

Why were the Indians and Twins in Puerto Rico you ask? This was organised by MLB last June, and it's the first time regular season games have been played in the country since 2010, when the Mets and Marlins visited the island.

This two-game set might have been billed as Twins home games but it was Francisco Lindor who garnered much of the attention, and rightfully so.

In fact, it was Lindor who ignited the crowd in the top of the fifth inning on Tuesday night. With game scoreless and the count full, Twins' starter Jake Odorizzi left a hanging breaking ball up in the zone that Lindor wasn't going to miss. The ball soon made it's way over the right field wall for a 2-run blast, his second home run of the season.

As Lindor started to round the bases, he motioned toward his mentor and fellow Puerto Rican Sandy Alomar Jr., and was soon pumping his arms at the crowd as chants of "Lindor! Lindor!" rang down upon him. With the raucous crowd begging for more, Lindor emerged from the dugout for perhaps the most powerful curtain call of his young career. It was quite a sight to behold, this native son delivering for his adoring family, friends and countrymen. "I'm just excited. I touched second base and looked in the dugout. Everybody's hands are up, so I put my hands up. I looked around the stadium, everybody's are up, so I keep putting my hands up and running."

Lindor's home run kick-started an offensive outburst that included solo home runs from Jose Ramirez, Michael Brantley and Yonder Alonso, all toward a 6-1 Tribe victory.

On the mound, Corey Kluber delivered a fine performance in typical Kluber fashion. He was completely unflappable and unfazed by the ceremony of the game. The Indians' ace pitched 6.2 innings, giving up 5 hits, 1 run (a Brian Dozier RBI double), 2 walks, and recorded 6 strikeouts, picking up his second win of the season in the process.

Wednesday night saw another superb pitching performance, this time by Carlos Carrasco, but he was matched by Minnesota starter and Puerto Rican native Jose Berrios. The two men had one heck of a duel, as Carrasco held the Twins scoreless for 7 innings with 7 strikeouts, and Berrios went the same distance, but with 5 strikeouts.

The second game of the series was somehow scoreless all the way to the fourteenth inning, with both teams emptying their bullpens, but the deadlock was finally broken by Edwin Encarnacion, who connected for his 4th home run of 2018 to put the Indians in the lead.

Sadly, the Twins replied instantly when slugger Miguel Sano hit a home run off Indians reliever Matt Belisle, to tie the game at 1-1. Two innings later, in the bottom of the sixteenth, center fielder Ryan LaMarre sent everyone home with a sharp single to give the Twins a walk-off 2-1 win.

Despite the split result, this series was overflowing with positivity throughout, and definitely appeared to bring some joy back to Puerto Rico, still suffering and rebuilding after Hurricane Maria devastated the nation over seven months ago.

The Tribe's attention now turns to Friday's trip to Baltimore, where they will play the Orioles in a four-game series. Trevor Bauer will take the mound for game one and faces off against right-hander Dylan Bundy, as the Indians look to finish their road trip in style before returning home for a long home stand next week.

Tribe Tame Tigers, Sweep Series

The Cleveland Indians continued their winning ways this week with a sweep over their AL Central rivals, the Detroit Tigers. The boys from Motown had no answer for the Tribe's vaunted pitching staff, and could only muster 5 runs in total. The Indians' lineup did just enough to back their starters to begin the series, before finally breaking out as the week progressed. With this sweep the Indians have now won 11 consecutive games against Detroit.

We're going to have a look at some talking points from this series:

Offense Showing Signs Of Life

Cleveland took the first two games of the series solely off the back of the long ball. With the team struggling to manufacture much offense in the freezing conditions, thankfully home runs traveled just far enough to lead the the Indians to victory.

Center fielder Bradley Zimmer got things started with his 2-run blast in the fifth inning of Monday's game, and they proved to be the only runs in the Indians' 2-0 win.

Tuesday night saw home runs bookend the Tribe's 2-1 victory, with Jose Ramirez getting a solo-shot over the wall in the first inning, and Roberto Perez ending the contest with one of his own in the eighth inning.

The offense showed some semblance of returning to normal on Wednesday night, finally recording a game with total hits in double-digits, for the first time this season. Remarkably the hometown team hit no homers that night but chose to do it the old fashioned way, with singles and doubles instead.

Thursday night saw the team really come alive, especially our most important hitters. Francisco Lindor (2-for-4, HR, 3 RBI), Jason Kipnis (3-for-4, double, 2 RBI), Jose Ramirez (1-for-5, HR, 2 RBI) and Michael Brantley (2-for-4, double, 1 RBI) all had key hits in the Tribe's 9-3 rout, and the team racked up 15 hits altogether.

Despite the offense as a whole starting the season slowly (with many of our guys possessing batting averages below .200), the visit of Detroit jolted them to life. As the temperature slowly climbed each day, the bats got hotter as well, and hopefully the lineup can carry this momentum forward.

Rotation Domination

The success of this series largely hinged on the stellar performances from the pitching staff, particularly the rotation.

Corey Kluber took the mound on Monday night and was phenomenal. He had a season-high 13 strikeouts over 8 shutout innings, limiting the Tigers to 2 paltry hits and a single walk. It's gotten to the point where I expect this sort of game from Kluber every time he pitches. He's a superstar in the body of a man not interested in that sort of acclaim.

Carlos Carrasco got the start on Wednesday and, having seen Kluber's impressive outing, decided he had to go one better. These two guys had their own private battle in 2017, to test who was the undisputed ace of this staff, and I think that battle will continue this year. Carrasco pitched a complete game with 6 strikeouts, 3 hits, 2 walks, and routinely displayed his vast array of great off-speed pitches. The only run he gave up was a consolation solo-homer to Leonys Martin in the sixth inning, as the Indians ran out 5-1 winners.

After three starts each to begin the season, Kluber sits with a 1-1 record, a 1.57 ERA, with 27 strikeouts over 23 innings, whereas Carrasco has a perfect 3-0 record, a 3.48 ERA, with 14 strikeouts over 21.1 innings. Win-loss records can be so cruel (and remember kids, not necessarily a good indication of performance.)

Josh Tomlin toed the rubber for his second start of the campaign on Tuesday and, after a dreadful first performance against the Angels last week, Tomlin began the long journey towards silencing his critics. Tomlin picked up a no-decision for his 5 innings of scoreless baseball, limiting Detroit to 4 hits and 2 walks, with 3 strikeouts. Tomlin is no Kluber, obviously, but for the fifth starter, this was definitely an encouraging day at the office for the 33 year-old.

Finally, Trevor Bauer secured the sweep with another impressive display, pitching 7 strong innings to pick up his first win of the year. Bauer scattered 7 hits, for 2 earned runs, gave up 2 walks but struck out 7 Tigers. I've always considered Clayton Kershaw's curveball to be the most beautiful pitch in modern baseball, but Bauer's curve has got to run him close. It's a real weapon for the 27 year-old.

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The Indians will now play one more series at home, welcoming the Toronto Blue Jays to Progressive Field for a three-game set. Mike Clevinger pitches Friday night and will look to continue his fine start to 2018. He'll face off against Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman, who usually enjoys pitching against Cleveland (2.17 ERA in five games), but Stroman has struggled in cold conditions so far this season, and the temperature could affect him once again.

Gomes Propels Indians To First Series Win

On Sunday afternoon, at a frigid Progressive Field, the Indians sealed their first series win of 2018 in walk-off fashion, when Yan Gomes took a Brandon Maurer pitch over the left field wall for a 2-run blast that knocked out the Kansas City Royals in a grueling 3-1 Tribe victory.

With one out in the ninth inning and Erik Gonzalez pinch running at first base, Gomes battled Maurer in an epic at-bat, fouling off pitch after pitch. With a full count, Gomes watched a low pitch and absolutely golfed it. I was certain the ball would die in the wind, as so many fly balls had done previously throughout the series, but it kept carrying, over the heads of the Royals outfielders, before ricocheting off the fans in left field.

It was a euphoric finish to what had been an arduous afternoon of baseball. My arms were raised in joy as the crowd went wild, but they were also raised in relief. I don’t think I could have endured extra innings, of having to watch more scoreless baseball.

A moment that stood out to me: as Gomes completed his postgame interview with Andre Knott (SportsTime Ohio’s sideline broadcaster), he walked back to the dugout to collect his catcher’s gear. With his chest protector safely tucked under his arm, Gomes turned around to catch the replay of his walk-off blast playing on the big screen in center field. As Tom Hamilton called the winning play, Gomes gave a nod of modest satisfaction, with the smallest hint of a smile on his face. It was a classy moment for the Brazilian backstop, and endeared him to me even more.

Let’s take a peak at some of the talking points from the Tribe’s first home stand of this season:

Cleveland In April: Where Fly Balls Go To Die

This entire series was heavily affected by the weather conditions and both team’s offensive output suffered as a result. To any fans reading this who were in the stands, I salute you.

The Indians’ offense have hardly started 2018 on a tear but their first home stand really ground things to a halt. It was evident right from the start of the home opener on Friday afternoon: anything hit in the air was not going far.

The strength of the wind knocked down everything, and outfielders often found themselves having to break inward on line drives, instead of ranging back as they usually would. The wind helped the ball settle nicely into their gloves, whereas most of those hits would have resulted in extra bases on a normal day. Jason Kipnis in particular had a couple of long fly-outs over the weekend that could have been doubles at the very least in normal conditions. Sunday’s rubber game was reported to be 32℉, the coldest regular season game in Progressive Field history, even though the sun was shining all day.

Brantley Returns and Offensive Woes

Michael Brantley made his return to the club just in time for Friday afternoon’s home opener, and made an instant impact.

After Tribe starter Carlos Carrasco scuffled in the first inning and put the Indians in an early 2-0 hole, Royals’ starter Danny Duffy followed suit and found himself in hot water too. Duffy couldn’t find his location and Brantley made him pay in his first at-bat. With the bases loaded and the Indians trailing 2-1, Brantley stepped into the batters box and lined a single into right field to score two runs and put the home side ahead 3-2. It turned out to be the last runs of the day, as Carrasco and Duffy began a pitchers duel from the second inning onward, and the Indians held on for the win.

In fact, the Indians didn’t score another run until the eighth inning of Sunday’s game. That’s 23 consecutive innings, the longest scoring drought in Terry Francona’s tenure as Cleveland manager. That’s a measure of just how bad this series was for the Tribe offense.

Despite their anemic hitting, the Indians prevailed, outscoring the Royals 6-4 for the two-to-one series win.

Here are some other snippets of note during the series:

• Tyler Naquin was sent down to Triple-A before Friday’s opener, to make room for Brantley’s return. However, Naquin never made it to Colombus, as Lonnie Chisenhall hurt himself early in Saturday’s game (calf strain) and was placed on the 10-day DL. Estimates are predicting Chisenhall could miss 4-6 weeks, so Naquin has been gifted another opportunity to impress. I expect he will split time in right field with Brandon Guyer, and spell Brantley in left field as the veteran eases his way back into regular everyday play.
• Mike Clevinger got the start on Sunday and was superb over 7.1 innings. Despite being far from sharp (often pitching behind in the count), Clevinger really battled, both the elements and the Royals. The right-hander scattered 9 hits, issued 2 walks and struck out 4. This outing was a career high for him in terms of length, both in innings pitched and total number of pitches (110). 
• Trevor Bauer pitched an absolute gem on Saturday, and was very unlucky to lose, as the offense couldn’t back him at all in a 1-0 loss. Kansas City’s lone run came from a Lucas Duda solo shot, the only mistake Bauer made over 8 stellar innings. Bauer’s off-speed pitches were especially nice to watch, and he struck out 7 Royals, only giving up 3 hits and 2 walks over 100 pitches. His maturity on the mound has impressed me a lot so far this year.

Cleveland now have a 4-5 record and will remain at home, as they host Detroit for a four game series. The Tribe are expected to send Corey Kluber to the mound in a bid to continue their winning ways, and gain some early momentum in this young season.

Indians Anything But Angelic, Lose Series

Despite getting off to a great start in their series against the Angels, the Indians dropped their final two games in Anaheim to finish their west coast road trip with a losing record. They currently sit at 2-4 and will face the Royals on Friday for their first home stand of 2018.

Let’s quickly run through the good, the bad, and the ugly from the Tribe’s trip to California.

The Good

Mike Clevinger kicked off his season in style, pitching a gem on Monday night in Cleveland’s 6-0 victory. Clevinger pitched 5.1 scoreless innings, with 4 hits, 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. He was especially effective pitching inside, often jamming right handed hitters, including Mike Trout.

Edwin Encarnacion hit an inside the park home run on Monday night. No need to check your eyesight, you read that correctly. You can watch the video here, and it sure is a sight to behold. I watched the game on replay whilst eating breakfast and nearly spat out my cereal when I saw Edwin flying round the bases.

Bradley Zimmer’s bat still has some way to go (2 hits in 12 PA this series) but his speed is undeniably a huge asset to this ballclub. In the third inning of Monday’s opener he practically created a run by himself. Facing Angels starter JC Ramirez, Zimmer beat out an infield single, before proceeding to steal second with ease. On a wild Ramirez pitch he took third without breaking sweat but catcher Martin Maldonado threw it into left field and Zimmer waltzed home. This is what he does so well, and combined with his defense in center field, will make him a household name in Cleveland before you know it.

Another couple of nice hits from this series: Tyler Naquin took a belt-high pitch and crushed it into right field for his first homer of 2018, in the fourth inning of Monday night’s game. Jose Ramirez, 0-15 to start the year heading into Tuesday’s game, finally got his first hit, a 2-run shot. The exit velocity was 103.4mph, coming off starter Garrett Richards. Sadly it was all the offense the Tribe could muster in that lopsided defeat.

The Bad

People are calling for the head of Josh Tomlin already. He was not sharp from the beginning on Tuesday night. Trout homered in the first inning, when Tomlin left a pitch up and in the middle of the strike zone, and Trout did what you would expect. With the Angels leading 3-2 and still in the first inning, Japanese sensation Shohei Ohtani connected for his first major league homer, a 3-run shot, to extend the lead to 6-2 and effectively bury the Tribe for the night. Tomlin’s inside breaking ball was actually a decent pitch but credit to Ohtani, he timed it perfectly. It eventually took Tomlin 44 pitches to escape the first inning, giving up 6 runs. In the second inning, Justin Upton solo-homered and in the third inning, former-Indian Luis Valbuena went deep on a solo homer of his own to left center field. That was all she wrote for Tomlin, 8 runs surrendered over 3 innings.

Dan Otero was not very effective in relief of Tomlin, and gave up 3 runs of his own (although Matt Belisle pitched well.) Zach McAllister saw some action but gave up a 2-run homer to Rene Rivera. Tuesday’s 13-2 loss was pretty ugly for everyone. McAllister suffered again in Wednesday's extra-inning loss, giving up the walk-off home run to Zack Cozart for a 3-2 Angels win.

The Ugly

In Wednesday’s rubber game, Corey Kluber was sent to the mound to rescue the series and was superb but received very little support from his offense. Kluber carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning but Andrelton Simmons bunted to get on base, in an attempt to start a rally. Then Ohtani proceeded to smash a Kluber pitch deep over the center field wall to tie the game 2-2, not endearing himself to Tribe fans thus far in his early career. I really wanted to like the guy too. Kluber finished the day with 7 innings pitched, 3 hits, 2 earned runs, 2 walks and 6 strikeouts. Alas, a win still eludes him.

The offense, give or take a home run here and there, haven't been great overall. During their trip to Seattle and Anaheim, the offense slashed .161/.264/.338, with 21 runs scored in total, with over half of those runs coming in the Indians' two wins.

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The Indians have an off day as they fly home from out west, and will go again tomorrow in their home opener against Kansas City. Carlos Carrasco is scheduled to pitch and the Tribe will be looking to get back to winning ways.

Shaw-less In Seattle: M’s Drop Tribe

It sure is nice to have baseball back.

Cleveland opened their 2018 season against the Mariners and lost a tightly contested series, two games to one. Even if the Indians didn’t win their opening series, it’s great to have them playing meaningful ball games once again.

Let’s discuss:

Bullpen Blues Already?

You know how they say, you don’t know what you got till it’s gone?

Well, I think it’s safe to say that Bryan Shaw was undervalued as a pitcher during his tenure in an Indians uniform.

Between 2013-2017, Shaw made 378 relief appearances for the Indians, to the tune of a 3.11 ERA over 358.2 innings, good enough for a 136 ERA+. Shaw was the picture of consistency for Cleveland, but sadly not always appreciated. Maybe Shaw was the victim of being in the wrong place, throwing the wrong pitch, at the wrong time, and perhaps one too many of those moments lodged deep in the fans' memories. The 30 year-old right hander moved on this winter, signing with the Rockies.

Boy did our guys miss Shaw’s services on Sunday though, as the Tribe’s relief pitchers couldn’t get the job done in the rubber game. Dan Otero and Tyler Olson, both solid options, unfortunately allowed home runs in the seventh inning to give Seattle an insurmountable lead in their 5-4 victory. Olson’s gift to Mitch Haniger, a 2-run shot, was particularly damaging. The southpaw, who had a 0.00 ERA over 20 innings last year, will not repeat that feat this season.

Are the Indians panicking about their bullpen already?

No, certainty not. It’s only one series, and the guys chosen to pick up where Shaw left off will soon have opportunities to redeem themselves. They’ll also, on occasion, suffer repeat performances just like Sunday. Such is the life of an MLB relief pitcher, and we as fans have to make peace with that fact; pitchers surrender runs.

Let’s not forget the work done during Saturday’s 6-5 victory, when a combination of Zach MacAllister, Andrew Miller and Cody Allen worked 3.1 innings of scoreless relief. There’s clearly no reason to overreact this early, especially when the team can still call upon elite arms like Miller and Allen.

However, it's the bridge between the rotation and that fearsome duo that might take a little while to settle.

To finish up, here are a few more quick takes:

• Edwin Encarnacion broke out on Sunday, slugging two home runs. His second of the game, a no-doubter high over the head of Seattle left fielder Guillermo Heredia, brought the Indians within a run of the Mariners but it wasn't to be. Still, it's nice to see Edwin start the season in style.
• Fellow slugger and new man in town Yonder Alonso made a good first impression. He kicked things off for the Tribe on Saturday, smashing a grand slam off M's starter James Paxton to give the Indians an early 4-0 lead.
• Corey Kluber got the nod for Opening Day, as expected, and was sublime in a complete game effort that unfairly resulted in the loss. 8 innings, 6 hits and 2 earned runs (courtesy of a Nelson Cruz 2-run homer), with 8 strikeouts and 1 walk. Vintage Kluber to start 2018, just a shame the offense couldn't back him.

The Tribe stay out west for their next series, travelling down to Anaheim for a three game set with the Angels. Mike Clevinger is expected to make his first start of the year, as he takes on Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani.