Player of the Game
Carlos Carrasco put in another masterful start, setting a new high for total ‘Player of the Game’ score in 2 consecutive starts with a combined score of 18.79. In this game Carrasco pitched 7 shut out innings, striking out 7 and allowing 7 base runners. With the win his score for the game was 8.63, a full 6 points better than the next best player, Chris Perez, who scored a 2.48 for striking out the side in the ninth earning a one run save. It is Carrasco’s second straight start that he has won 1-0 and he has both of the Indians last 2 wins. It is his second ‘Player of the Game’ award of the season.
Feathers Up
Manny Acta put a new lineup together in an effort to shake things up a bit. It didn’t have great results today, but as often mentioned on Burning River Baseball, it doesn’t matter what order you put the players in if none of them do anything. The new lineup features Michael Brantley and Asdrubal Cabrera dropped from 1 and 2 to 3 and 4 with Grady Sizemore and Carlos Santana moving up from 3 and 4 to take their spots. Matt LaPorta had another day off today, but it should be expected that he will probably be put back in the 6th spot after Shin-Soo Choo.
Carlos Carrasco loaded the bases in the first inning and allowed two runners in each of the next two, but was able to keep the Yankees from scoring even once through all of it. Carrasco had an unusually high pitch count due to the hits and walks which kept him from finishing the game, but the bullpen was able to maintain his pace.
With the win the Indians guarantee a share of first place going into the series with Detroit. This is big as it means the Indians only have to win the series to stay ahead rather than sweep.
Feathers Down
One run a game is not going to do it on almost any night. Luckily Carlos Carrasco has turned things around and pitched magnificently his last two times out, but the Indians offense needs to turn things around and quickly. This team has only scored 2 runs in the last 3 games and has only averaged 2 runs per game over the current streak of 9 losses in 11 games. If you take out the 7 runs the Indians scored against New York in a game that was already over, they have only averaged 1.5 runs over the remaining 10 games. Whether it will be a move or good coaching or just a change in luck, the Indians need something more significant than a lineup change to happen soon.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 1, New York Yankees 0
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