Cleveland Indians: The importance of getting the first win

The Cleveland Indians had a comeback win on Opening Day and it will be key to their success in the month of April.

The Cleveland Indians kicked off the 2017 season in a big way against the Texas Rangers. The Indians scored five runs in the last three innings, earning themselves a big comeback win on the road on Opening Day. The win was much-needed for a Cleveland team coming off an emotionally exhausting 2016 season.

When Edwin Encarnacion launched a baseball into orbit to tie the game on Monday in the top of the eighth inning, it energized the visitors’ dugout in Arlington. The free agent acquisition immediately made a big impact on his new club.

The big test came in the bottom-half, when Andrew Miller came in and mowed through the 4-5-6 hitters in the Rangers’ lineup. It was a big inning for Miller, who struggled for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. Once, he got through that inning unscathed, the game’s momentum had shifted in a major way. Suddenly, the Indians couldn’t lose.

The offense responded with three runs off Texas closer Sam Dyson in the ninth, and the Indians had regained their formidable form. It only took them eight innings to find it.

It’s so easy to come in to a new season and experience a “World Series hangover.” The emotions in Cleveland were at the highest of highs when Rajai Davis tied the game off Aroldis Chapman, but it wasn’t too long after that they felt the lowest of lows, as Kris Bryant recorded the final out to Anthony Rizzo.

That swing can hit a team hard and it can carry over. It seemed to be setting in too, as ace Corey Kluber struggled early, giving up five runs, all coming on three home runs. The team was already missing Jason Kipnis due to injury and it seemed as though things might start to pile on when Rougned Odor hit his second homer of Kluber to make it a 5-1 game in the third.

Encarnacion dug them out though. Sometimes, it also helps when a guy hits a long home run. Encarnacion didn’t just sneak one out to tie the game, he crushed it and put an exclamation point on it. The team got fired up.

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The best thing for this team would be a hot April. A lackluster April always has a chance to turn into a bad May and a hole that they can’t dig out of. Opening Day was a good start, now they need to build on it.