CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Indians begin their quest for a third consecutive American League Central Division Championship with the 2018 regular-season opener against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field in Seattle tonight.
Although the Indians made an earlier-than-anticipated exit from the 2017 Major League Baseball Playoffs and were unable to retain several key free agents from a team that won an AL-record 22 straight games late in last season, confidence is not a problem heading into 2018.
“There’s no doubt,” Kipnis said of Cleveland’s World Series chances prior to TribeFest. “We know what we have in here.
“Now, it’s just to prove it to ourselves and to our fans that we owe it to finish what we started. We have the staff, the bullpen, the lineup, so there’s no team that we look over there and we’re like, ‘Oh, wow. They have it better than we do.’ We’re very confident in the group we have here.”
PHOTOS: Cleveland Indians set to open 2018 season against Seattle Mariners tonight
Here is where you can catch the Indians’ regular-season opener against the Mariners
When: Thursday, 10:10 p.m.
Where: TV: ESPN, SportsTime Ohio; Radio: WTAM AM/1100, WMMS FM/100.7
Pitching Matchup: Corey Kluber vs. Felix Hernandez
Last November, the 31-year old Kluber became the first pitcher in Indians history to win multiple AL Cy Young awards by tallying 204 points, including 28 of a possible 30 first-place votes.
During the 2017 season, Kluber, who first brought home the Cy Young Award in 2014, struck out 265 hitters against just 36 walks with 141 hits and 51 earned runs allowed over 203.2 innings of work. Kluber posted an 18-4 record and AL-best 2.25 ERA on the way to leading the Indians to a second straight Central Division Championship.
Kluber was named the AL Pitcher of the Month in June after a strong showing following his return from the disabled list. Kluber struck out 25 batters over his last two starts in June and registered at least 10 strikeouts in all but one of his six June starts.
In a tough-luck 1-0 loss to the San Diego Padres at Progressive Field on July 4, Kluber struck out 10 hitters, and in doing so, set a new Indians club record for the most consecutive 10-plus strikeout performances (five).
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Throughout the month of August, Kluber posted a 5-1 record with 54 strikeouts and only six runs allowed over 46.0 innings of work. Although Kluber surrendered six home runs, he allowed only 10 earned runs and 23 hits.
As a follow-up to the strong August showing, Kluber went 5-0 in six September starts as the Indians built an AL-record 22-game winning streak and clinched a playoff berth for the second consecutive season. Kluber allowed only four earned runs, three home runs and three walks against 50 strikeouts over 43.0 innings of work in the final month of the regular season.
A past Cy Young Award winner in his own right, Hernandez is 160-114 with a 3.20 earned run average in 375 starts over his 13-year career with the Mariners.
