Player of the Game
For the second game in a row, Carlos Carrasco threw nine innings, although this time, it wasn’t enough to earn him the win. In those nine he allowed no runs, one hit and struck out seven. He walked one and hit one, but thanks to a runner caught stealing, ended up facing just two batters over the minimum. Matt Shoemaker also pitched well for the Angels, but hit the 100 pitch mark three innings before Carrasco and was pulled early.
This was the sixth time Carrasco has pitched at least through the eighth inning and with his seven K’s, he now has 147 on the season.
Feathers Up
Throwing a perfect game against a team with Mike Trout and Albert Pujols is quite a task, so Carrasco split it across two games. From his last start against Oakland, he retired 27 batters in a row before walking Trout in the fourth inning tonight.
While he did make an error on the bases (more on this later), Giovanny Urshela eventually was the hero the Indians have been looking for. Still scoreless in the twelfth, Lonnie Chisenhall started the inning with a single, but Jerry Sands lined out and Tyler Holt struck out for two quick outs. Urshela then came up and on the second pitch from Cam Bedrosian took one out to left for the first runs of the game for either team.
Milestone Alert: With his 22nd save of the season and his 48th in his career, Cody Allen has tied Steve Olin for eighth most in Indians history. He is quickly moving up the charts and is now three saves away from Joe Borowski and seventh place.
Feathers Down
Continuing with the theme established during the Rays series in late June, a former Indian broke up Carrasco’s no hitter tonight. This time it was a David Murphy single in the fifth who ended his extended run of 12.2 innings of no hit ball. Being the good guy he is, Murphy was caught stealing on an attempted hit and run, so Carrasco still faced just one over the minimum to this point. Murphy’s was the only Angels hit against Carrasco and one of just two total in 12 innings.
The Indians issues with runners on continued tonight, particularly with Francisco Lindor at the plate. Lindor looked bad in each of his first three at bats (two strike outs), stranding five runners including three in scoring position. One of the strike outs came in a situation with bases loaded and two outs in the fifth, adding to the Indians paltry numbers with the bases loaded. In the eighth, he did double, leaving it up to Carlos Santana to end the inning without scoring.
The Indians had a decent chance to score in the 10th when Urshela doubled with one out, but he got himself tagged out on what looked to be an infield single by Jose Ramirez. Now with two outs, Lindor flew out to end the inning and any chance of Carrasco getting a win.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 2 – Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 0
On Deck: The Indians will end their final West Coast trip and it won’t be soon enough for the sleepy fans and road weary players who have lost three of their last four games. For the Angels, Hector Santiago will face off against Danny Salazar.
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