Roster Update: Just like Matt Langwell, Preston Guilmet just finished another short trip to the Majors as he was sent back to AAA Columbus this morning. Carlos Carrasco was recalled as a long relief pitcher in his place. Carrasco has pitched in six games this year as a starter, struggling in all but one start. The Indians hope he will be more successful in a relief role, where he will likely be pitching in games that were already decided early.
Player of the Game
Carlos Carrasco looked a lot better in relief tonight than he ever has when starting a game. He still ended up pitching five innings, but he allowed just one hits and no runs while striking out four. There was no pressure for him to keep a game scoreless as Kazmir had blown that in the first inning and there was no worry of pitch counts as even finishing the game he stayed under his norm. Carrasco did walk three, but remained in control, ending two innings with double plays.
Feathers Up
In what must be considered a minor miracle (or statistical oddity), after allowing five runs to score before two outs were recorded in the first inning, Scott Kazmir retired eight in a row with no difficulty before being removed in the fourth inning. He was still getting outs, so it's possible that Terry Francona saw something he didn't like in Kazmir's wind up and pulled him for cautionary reasons.
Feathers Down
It may be easy to overlook the Angels offense as they sit fourth in the AL West standings, but they still have some pop. They showed it in the first inning when the first four batters reached safely (two of whom scored on a Mark Trumbo single). After one out, another three came home when Josh Hamilton hit a three run home run. Even without Albert Pujols, the Indians still have two amazing young All-Stars (in Mike Trout and Trumbo) and a former slugger who can still mash in Hamilton.
The Indians were completely unable to put a scoring threat together with the only two runs scoring on solo home runs. While that may have been enough against the White Sox or Rangers, it wasn't enough to surpass the damage allowed in the first inning off Kazmir.
Streakiness has not aided the Indians, who have now lost five in a row after winning ten of their previous 11. While it's not yet an epic season collapse like in 2012, it won't take much more to put the Central Division out of reach.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 2 – Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 5
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