Five teams that have inflected most pain on the Cleveland Indians since 2016

Record against since 2016: Regular Season (13-15), Postseason (2-5)

Painful Moments

• 2017 ALDS: After falling one-win short of a World Series title in 2016, the 2017 Indians seemed destined to finish the job. Cleveland won 102 regular season games to win the AL Central by 17 games over the Minnesota Twins, who also made the postseason and even broke an American League record with a 22-game winning streak during the regular season. The Indians clinched home field advantage throughout the postseason and drew the New York Yankees in the ALDS after they took down Minnesota in the Wild Card Game. Cleveland appeared on their way to a series sweep as they took Games 1 and 2 at Progressive Field and needed just one win to end the series. However, a young Yankees team wouldn’t let it happen. New York took Game 3 1-0 after Masahiro Tanaka out-dueled Carlos Carrasco and in Game 4, New York pounded their way to victory, setting up a do-or-die Game 5 in Cleveland. There, Cy-Young Award winner Corey Kluber faltered as he allowed a pair of home runs to Didi Gregorius as the Yankees went onto finish off the comeback and end the Indians’ historic season.
• 2020 Wild Card Series: The only team to knock the Indians out of the postseason multiple times in the past five years are the New York Yankees. Cleveland faced off with New York in a best-of-three Wild Card Series at Progressive Field in 2020 and were considered favorites by many. Instead, the series ended quickly as the Yankees pounded ace Shane Bieber for seven runs in Game 1 en route to a 12-3 victory and in Game 2 erased an early 4-0 deficit and then rallied back from a 9-8 hole in the top of the ninth to win the game 10-9 and end the Indians season.
• 2018 Sweep: Looking to avenge their 2017 ALDS loss to New York, the Indians traveled to the Bronx for a three-game weekend series with the Bombers in May of 2018. Instead of getting revenge, however, the Yankees inflicted more pain on the Tribe. New York took Game 1 courtesy of a walk-off single by Miguel Andujar and then dropped Game 2 after being shut down by Yankees starter Sonny Gray. In Game 3, it appeared Cleveland was on their way to avoiding a sweep as they took a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the eighth. The Yankees had other plans, however. New York rallied to score three runs in the bottom of the eighth and then four in the bottom of the ninth capped off with a three-run walk-off home run by rookie infielder Gleyber Torres as they completed a three-game sweep of the Indians in stunning fashion.