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.

8) August 8, Yan Gomes walk-off homer

The Indians struggled in interleague play all season and this game against Colorado would start off with that same theme. The Rockies scored what looked to be the difference making run in the top of the first and the Indians had nothing to offer in return

That Rockies run would be the only run Corey Kluber would allow all nine innings. After two walks in the ninth, Austin Jackson had a great duel with Greg Holland, fouling off a pair of pitches with two strikes then taking two balls.

In the end Jackson tied the game up with a RBI single to center field, bringing up Yan Gomes. On a two-strike pitch, Gomes smacked a three-run blast to the bleachers to win the game, giving Kluber his 10th win on the season.

7) June 26, Seven run comeback vs. the Rangers

After getting swept by Minnesota, fans were hoping to see the team improve their play at home. Home play was a problem for the Indians compared to their tremendous play on the road early on.

When this game started, things didn’t look much better. In the fourth inning the Rangers led 9-2 and the game seemed all but over. But the Indians never gave in. They continued to chip away at the lead while holding the Rangers in check after the fourth inning.

When the sixth inning came, the rally came with it. After the first five hitters reached base, Lonnie Chisenhall banged a pitch up the middle to score two runs. This gave the Indians their first lead of the game at 10-9. The hits didn’t stop there. In the seventh, the lineup hit three doubles to give the Indians 13 unanswered runs.

This game showed the resilience of the Indians. That resilience would come into play deeper in the season.

6) September 7, Indians rout White Sox to win 15th in a row

While an 11-2 win isn’t exactly considered a “great game” to most, it’s the significance of this win that lands it on our list.

The Indians tied their previous franchise record 14-game winning streak that they set in 2016. They opened up this September evening by hitting for the cycle in the first inning. One of those hits was a three-run homer courtesy of Edwin Encarnacion. They never looked back as they scored three more runs in the next two innings.

With all the runs scored in this game it’s easy to forget how dominant Corey Kluber was in this start. He had 13 strikeouts and earned his 15th win of the season, adding on another great outing to his Cy Young Award resume. While this win set a new franchise record for winning streaks, it wouldn’t stop there.

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.