Cleveland Indians vs. Arizona Diamondbacks: 3 takeaways from the series

The Cleveland Indians had a rough series against the Arizona Diamondbacks over the weekend. Here are some final thoughts from the series.

Cleveland Indians fans knew the team’s first series in Texas was a treat. The excitement for the season to finally begin turned into a series sweep, and one in which there was plenty of ninth-inning magic.

But fans also know that an entire 162-game season will be filled with plenty of losses, along with games where there just isn’t a playoff-feel like there was in Texas thanks to it being the first series of the year.

We were all brought back to reality this past weekend, when the Indians were swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The sweep was not due to any single part of the team doing bad, but rather a collective effort that just wasn’t able to conjure up what was seen in Texas. The offense struggled, while the pitching didn’t do great, but no one should be worried as it was only the second series of the season.

The team now gets to head home, and finally leave the desert behind to play in front of a home crowd that couldn’t be more excited to see this team for the first time since November.

Fans will be excited regardless, but everyone will obviously be hoping for a better effort than what was seen in Arizona. Let’s take one final look back at the series to go over what stood out the most in the three games.

The Indians put up an astonishing 21 runs in three games against the Rangers. The team followed that up by seeing the Diamondbacks put up 21, compared to only seven scored by the Indians’ offense.

No one was expecting the team to average seven runs per game, but the offense just didn’t seem to have it over the weekend. Add in the pitchers having to hit and the lineup couldn’t get anything going.

The series actually had a promising start, as Francisco Lindor hit a home run in the top of the first inning in Friday’s opener, making it three straight at-bats in which he had hit a home run. Cut to the second inning and the Indians were already in command of a 3-0 lead, or so we thought.

The Diamondbacks went on to score seven unanswered runs, setting the tone for the rest of the series. Whenever the Indians were able to muster up some offense, the Diamondbacks responded with monster innings.

The play that summed up the series came in the top of the ninth in Sunday’s game, when the Indians had cut the lead to 3-2 and Carlos Santana came to the plate as the go-ahead run. He hit a deep fly ball off Fernando Rodney, which seemed to be headed for the seats.

Alas, it only made it to the warning track and the Indians head back home losers of three straight.

The offense is going to go through such stretches, and the three losses don’t fall entirely upon just the lineup.

It is rare that an entire pitching staff is dominant at the beginning of the season. Everyone is still getting used to being back in regular-season action, while it also takes time for those who aren’t the stars to get their best stuff back.

That held true over the weekend, although Sunday’s game saw great outings from Corey Kluber, Andrew Miller, and Cody Allen.

Josh Tomlin started Friday’s game doing well, but only made it 4 2/3 innings before allowing six earned runs.

Trevor Bauer did a bit better by going 5 2/3 innings and allowing just four earned runs, but the five allowed by Shawn Armstrong in the eighth inning ended any hopes of a comeback.

The staff isn’t going to be perfect all year, and that was evident in just this second series of the season, although fans are still waiting for anything but perfection from Miller.

And even the five runs allowed by Armstrong shouldn’t cause concern, given he can have a solid outing his next time on the mound. And if he does continue to struggle, there are several pitchers in Columbus more than qualified of receiving a chance.

But it is too soon to cast doubt on any of the pitchers. The entire team had a bad series and that will happen more than once this season. The good news is that the entire rotation, and bullpen, has now seen game action and can get past the jitters that come with that first appearance.

The Indians will be honored on Tuesday for winning the 2016 American League pennant, providing us all with one final look back at the historic season.

The first series of the season seemed to be a continuation of last year’s magic, but we all knew there are to be hardships throughout the year. This series in Arizona helped bring everyone back to reality.

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Following the pregame festivities on Tuesday, we can all officially move on from last year and begin the grind that is the 2017 regular season. Not that the first six games didn’t begin the process, but having two off days has taken away the true feeling of the regular season.

That changes Tuesday, as the Indians won’t have another day of rest until April 24.

But as it stands, the easing into the season isn’t a bad thing. It allows the players to stay fresh early in the year, and it gives us fans time to reflect on 2016 one last time when the team is recognized for the feat on Tuesday.

No one is happy the team got swept in Arizona, but going 3-3 on a road trip to open the year is far from terrible. The team finished with a 41-39 road record a year ago, so the pace has once again been set.

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The key now is to dominate at home and quickly move past the bad showing in Arizona. Today’s day off should help reset the minds of the players, so expect a fun, excited showing on Tuesday. It is going to be a playoff atmosphere at Progressive Field, and it will be hard for the team to not feed off that energy.