After watching Carlos Carrasco halt extended losing streaks in each of his 2 most recent starts, Cleveland manager Manny Acta called his right-handed starter "a stopper." That is obviously high praise for such a young pitcher, but Carrasco continues to show that he is worthy of it.
Carrasco, on Saturday night, was once again brilliant. He held the Pirates hitless through the 1st 5 innings before a pair of infield singles in the 6th derailed his no-hit bid. Carrasco's streak of 21 2/3 consecutive scoreless frames came to an end in the 7th, but that did not prevent him from earning his 7th win of the season. Carrasco hurled 6 1/3 innings, struck out 5, and surrendered only 1 run.
Offensively, the Indians executed perfectly against Paul Maholm and the Pittsburgh bullpen.
In the bottom of the 1st, there were runners on the corners when Carlos Santana stepped into the batter's box, and the Tribe's cleanup hitter delivered. Santana lofted a sacrifice fly to fairly deep left field, giving the Indians an early lead.
Grady Sizemore stretched that advantage in the 2nd when he bounced a 2-out RBI double over the 1st base bag.
Orlando Cabrera's 6th inning solo homer that barely cleared the 19-foot wall in left allowed Carrasco and the Tribe to breathe a little easier.
The Indians finally crushed the Pirates' hopes of a victory in the 7th. Sizemore hammered a triple high off the center field wall, and Michael Brantley contributed a sac fly. Then, Asdrubal Cabrera singled, swiped 2nd base, and scored on Shin-Soo Choo's 2-out RBI single.
That 2-run rally sent Maholm, the eventual losing pitcher, to the showers. 4 of the tallies were charged to Maholm, who, despite a solid ERA, now has a 3-8 record.
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| Carrasco is beginning to look like an ace |
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