Cleveland Indians face first difficult test of season today in Arizona

The Cleveland Indians are looking to avoid being swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks in a series that has seen the offense disappear.

The ups and downs of the MLB season have already struck Cleveland Indians fans and the team has not even played a home game.

The Indians are looking to avoid being swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks, four days after finishing off a dramatic sweep of the Texas Rangers to begin the year. So it goes.

The offense carried the team through the first series, but a combined five runs in the first two games of this series, compared to 18 scored by the Diamondbacks, has not helped the cause.

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Obviously, 18 runs is inexcusable, but the offense still needs to come back to life.

Today would be a great time for that to happen, as Corey Kluber is getting the start for the Indians, hopefully signaling some resistance to the Diamondbacks’ offense.

Just to be clear, there is no cause for alarm this early in the season. The Indians are 3-2 and baseball fans know that losing a series is going to happen throughout the season. But the key is that the team shows the ability to have a short memory and bounce back to avoid being swept.

Indians fans believe in this team, and the talent is there. And after two days of forgettable pitching, the team is setting up to have their ace have a quality start, and hopefully be followed by two of the best relievers in baseball. It is the winning formula for this team, but the offense must do some early damage to set up the situation.

No one would suspect any real danger for the offense if it can’t be done today, but the team needs to get its swagger back before heading home for Tuesday’s celebration.

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It won’t be easy, as Patrick Corbin gets the start for the Diamondbacks today. He is coming off a great start earlier in the week in which he only allowed two runs in a loss to the San Francisco Giants. It was his team’s only loss this year, so perhaps he will remain winless and the Indians can salvage the series today.