Tribe Beat – April 4th, Opening Day
After winning their first series in Oakland, the Tribe returns home for their very first set of games this year at Progressive Field. The Minnesota Twins come to town for an opening weekend series. It’s also the Tribe’s first affair against a division foe.
The Indians will be sending Danny Salazar to the hill to toss out the first pitches at home this season. Last year, Salazar went 2-3 with a 3.12 ERA. If you remember, it was him who pitched in the Wild Card matchup against the Tampa Bay Rays. The atmosphere this afternoon will truly be the same at Progressive Field.
On the Minnesota side, the Twins are going with Mike Pelfrey. The right hander out of Wichita State had a season last year that he’d most likely want to forget. He went 5-13 with a 5.19 ERA in 2013.
Second baseman Jason Kipnis shared his thoughts about the opening day experience:
“Having a sea of red come out, seeing nothing but Tribe colors,” Kipnis said, envisioning the downtown scene. “Having all the fans show up to the ballpark, the excitement, the balloons, the fireworks, the music going on. The things going on in the streets around the stadium — there’s just a buzz around the ballpark the whole day.” (via ESPN)
The Indians will look to get right back to their home successes as last season the Tribe finished (51-30) at Progressive.
-Zach Shafron
