Officially, Spring Training began at 3:05 p.m. ET, when Mike Clevinger threw out the first pitch of the Cleveland Indians' matchup with the Cincinnati Reds in Goodyear, Ariz.
Unofficially, however, the Indians' preseason began in the bottom of the second when first baseman Yonder Alonso homered to right field off of Sal Romano.
Despite it only being the start of Spring Training, Indians veteran broadcaster Tom Hamilton treated his call with his trademark enthusiasm. And it didn't take long for the team's Twitter account to match audio with video for the Indians' first chills-inducing moment of 2018.
Alonso's home run gave Cleveland a 1-0 lead over its in-state rival, although the Reds would eventually fight back to win the game by the final of 6-4. Nevertheless, Alonso's home run could be viewed as an encouraging sign for the Indians' offense, after Cleveland made the former Seattle Mariner its top free agent acquisition of this past offseason.
After facing Cincinnati on Friday, the Indians will take on the Arizona Diamond Diamondbacks on Saturday before once again facing the Reds on Sunday. Keep it locked on WKYC.com for all the latest on Indians' spring training, as we'll be reporting live from Goodyear starting next week.
