Cleveland Indians: Top 10 wins from 2017

We take a comprehensive look back at the 2017 Cleveland Indians season to pick out the 10 best wins fans witnessed during the year.

While 2017 didn’t turn out the way Cleveland Indians fans would have hoped, the season was still full of magical moments.

The Indians made us worry and cheer all season. From the up and down start to the year, to climbing their way to the top of the division, to the American League record 22-game winning streak, there were countless wins for Indians fans to remember from the season.

As we turn the corner to 2018, let’s take one more look back at this incredible year for the Cleveland Indians with a look at the ten best victories from the season.

10) April 5, Lindor’s game-winning grand slam

We start this list at the start of the season. The defending AL Champions went into Arlington with high hopes to start 2017. They would collide with the Texas Rangers, who had the best record in the American League in 2016.

Not only was this a big series with two powerhouse teams facing off, but it saw the Indians facing off against Mike Napoli, who had joined the Rangers in the offseason.

The first two games of the series ended in Cleveland’s favor, but the third game saw the Rangers leading the Tribe 6-4 heading into the ninth. The Indians loaded the bases and scored with a Carlos Santana walk.

Still trailing, Francisco Lindor came to the plate and knocked the ball to the seats just inside the right field foul pole. This grand slam led to the Tribe earning a sweep to start their 2017 campaign.

9) April 11, Brantley’s walk-off double

The Indians home opener started off as a day that fans would always remember. The Indians raised their American League pennant and followed up the celebration with a solo home run in the first inning.

Things would quickly quiet down as the Indians wouldn’t score again in regulation, and the White Sox would tie the game in the fifth.

Carlos Carrasco came out after seven innings and the bullpen took the game into the first extra innings game of the year for the Tribe. Lindor would walk with two outs in the tenth to bring up Michael Brantley.

Brantley drilled a ground ball into left field to score Lindor and continue the celebration day in Cleveland.

5) July 22, Lindor get first career walk-off home run

There were a lot of questions coming into Danny Salazar‘s return to the mound after missing seven weeks of play. Danny would silence the doubters with a one-hit, seven-inning outing.

Toronto had fantastic pitching on their side that evening as well, keeping the score low throughout. Justin Smoak made things difficult for the Indians by tying the game at 1-1 in the eighth.

This would lead to extra innings where the Blue Jays looked to take the lead. Cody Allen allowed the first two hitters to reach base before he managed to strike out Morales.

After a groundball out, Bryan Shaw came in to save the inning to go into the bottom of the tenth.

Rain then began to fall during Lindor’s at-bat to start the inning.

After breaking his bat fouling a pitch off, the rain began to pour and that is when Lindor launched the next pitch out of the park.

4) August 24, Indians score seven runs off Sale

The season series against Boston was one of the toughest of the year for the Tribe. The Red Sox stunned the Indians the first time they saw Chris Sale on the mound earlier in the month. Despite scoring seven runs off Sale, Boston won the game with a three run walk-off.

The Indians looked to take advantage of another shot at Sale. They would get to him early, scoring four runs in the second inning and three more in the third. The Red Sox tried to rally by making it 7-4 in the fifth inning.

The Indians didn’t let up as they continued to pummel the Red Sox bullpen. The six added runs effectively stomped out the Red Sox rally attempt. Not only did this win even the season series against the Red Sox, but it was the first of 22 in a row for the Tribe.

3) July 25, Encarnacion hits walk-off grand slam

In order to extend a different winning streak the Indians had to get past the Angels.

The Tribe got off to a great start. After taking a 2-0 lead in the second inning, Bradley Zimmer hit a grand slam to give the Indians a 6-0 lead. Michael Brantley followed that up with a solo home run.

All those runs wouldn’t be enough, however, as the Angels clawed their way back into the game. The Indians were unable to score again in regulation and the game would go into extra innings.

The Angels walked Zimmer, Lindor, and Brantley to load the bases for Encarnacion. Loading the bases for Edwin seems like a bad idea for a pitcher to do. He further proved that point as he smacked one to the bleachers to win the game for the Indians. It was just the third time in franchise history that the Indians hit two grand slams in one game.

2) October 6, ALDS comeback vs. the Yankees

I know, a lot of people will think this game shouldn’t be here due to the end result of this series. But despite the series loss, this was truly an incredible win for Cleveland.

This was Kluber’s first playoff start of the season and it did not go well for the Cy Young candidate. The Yankees got to him early by scoring six runs in the first three innings, forcing him out in the third. The Bronx Bombers scored twice in the fifth to take an 8-3 lead.

Then the improbable happened. Lindor came to the plate with the bases loaded and hit a grand slam off the foul pole to trim the Yankees’ lead to one run. After Jay Bruce played hero in Game 1 of the series, he came through again to tie the game at 8-8.

From that moment on, it became a duel between two of the best bullpens in baseball.

The game continued into the 13th inning where Austin Jackson walked then stole second to set up the game-winning run. Gomes hit one down the third-base line into the corner to bring Jackson home and bring the game to an end. It was a magical win for the Tribe that would unfortunately be their last.

1) September 14, AL record 22nd win in a row

The 22nd consecutive win for the Indians would come against a foe the Tribe swept earlier in the win streak. The Royals would not make it an easy task for the Indians.

The teams traded runs in the second and third innings before Kansas City took the lead in the sixth. With the Indians struggling to get anything going after their run in the third, it seemed like the streak would end that evening.

A trend on this list seems to be Francisco Lindor’s name popping up. That can be attributed to the incredible season he had in 2017. His magic would continue in this game as he doubled on a line drive to left field to score Eric Gonzalez and tie the game.

Next: Candidates to replace Mickey Callaway

This set the Indians up for yet another walk-off opportunity. The addition of Jay Bruce was a big reason the Indians were able to stay hot late in the year. Bruce’s game-winning RBI double lifted the Tribe to their most exciting win of their streak and of their 2017 season.