Cleveland Indians: A grand slam and the notion of momentum

The Cleveland Indians enter Saturday losers of three straight, but one hit in Friday’s loss may be enough to give the team some much-needed momentum.

The Cleveland Indians once again gave fans in attendance little to cheer about on Friday night. That was, until Lonnie Chisenhall provided some late-game heroics.

His grand slam cut the Detroit Tigers’ lead to 7-6, and a season ago it may have seemed as if a comeback victory was only minutes away. But there is a different feel this year, as getting big hits has only happened on rare occasions.

An Austin Jackson strikeout ultimately ended the game, and those still in attendance went home after seeing the Indians lose their third straight game.

Justin Verlander is on the mound today for the Tigers, but the Indians are countering with Corey Kluber. However, it may not matter who the Indians put on the mound if the offense continues to struggle.

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The hope is that Chisenhall’s grand slam can give the team some sort of boost heading into Saturday’s game, but the idea of momentum is a tricky one in baseball. It is not like the Indians are coming into these games expecting to lose.

A season-opening sweep of the Texas Rangers and a walk-off win in the home opener shows the team that they are capable of pulling out big wins no matter the circumstances.

Most of the batters in the lineup are even making good contact at the plate, yet aren’t finding open spots in the field. So it is not about some extra confidence needed to succeed, but rather the simple execution that made the team so great in 2016.

The offense has been the focus of this for the past few days, but the pitching hasn’t been great either. Josh Tomlin‘s horrible outing on Thursday derailed any hopes of a victory, while Trevor Bauer‘s six earned runs on Friday put the team in a tough spot.

Next: Indians and starting pitching health

The hope is now that the team can parlay a great pitching performance into one at the plate, but expecting Chisenhall’s grand slam to lead to some sort of spark may be for naught. Instead, it would be the overall talent of this team finally piecing it all together, which we all know they can do.