The starting pitching is now starting to roll like we had hoped it might.

Kluber next!

And Brandon Moss, wow, what a streaky hitter. As the saying goes, when he gets hot he can carry a team.

Carrasco satisfies Indians with solid outing



By Jordan Wilson / MLB.com | 1:17 AM ET

KANSAS CITY -- Prior to the eighth inning, there was some discussion in the Indians' dugout about whether to send right-hander Carlos Carrasco back out after seven sharp frames.

Carrasco said he wanted more, too.

Carrasco had struck out eight batters and given up just one run and two walks in the Indians' eventual 2-1 win over the Royals on Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium.

But once the Tribe scored the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth, manager Terry Francona decided to give Carrasco a rest.

"When we got the lead, I just felt like -- I know it's a lot of trips to the mound -- but I felt like because he'd gotten that far, we could go ahead and match up," Francona said. "And instead of sending a guy out there that was maybe starting to get tired, we had fresh arms, and we were just going to keep zigzagging back and forth."

Carrasco's gem gave the Indians what they have needed for much of this season -- take some weight off their bullpen.

Outside of last weekend against Seattle, Cleveland starters have been relied on heavily this season to stretch deep into games and keep Francona from making trips to the mound.

Indians relievers went 0-4 with a 4.03 ERA in April, while improvements in May lifted those numbers to 4-8 with a 3.26 ERA and 12 saves prior to June.

Progress takes time, but Carrasco has played his part in letting his club have it, especially with wins in each of his past three starts.

In that stretch, Carrasco has given up no more than two runs and struck out no fewer than seven per game. He also walked just five batters across all three.

"I just work a lot between innings, and I just kind of go from there," Carrasco said. "I'm trying to do my job, and that's what it did for the last three starts. I need to continue to do that."

Carrasco lasted just as long in his previous outing in Kansas City at the beginning of May, though 10 runs from the Indians' offense in that game made for a much different night.

"I used more changeups today, a couple of strikeouts with my slider," Carrasco said. "But more importantly, I worked on using my fastball first, and they were swinging a lot, too, so you just kind of go from there."

The Royals only managed to turn one of their five hits into a run -- an RBI single from Eric Hosmer in the third inning -- when Carrasco threw a pitch farther inside than he intended.

"Because he only had two walks, he was able to pitch that deep into the game. And there were a couple of innings where he had some traffic on the bases, but he pounded the zone with his fastball, and it set up his changeup," Francona said. "But boy, I'll tell you what, man, you get that far and give up one, we'll take it."

Carrasco is now on a seven-game streak of six or more innings with six or more strikeouts and three or fewer walks -- the third longest stretch in franchise history behind Corey Kluber (9) and CC Sabathia (8).

no hit shutout gone in the first two pitches.

Big surprise. Bases loaded and bottom of lineup scubs strand them.

LOL ... I just posted same thing in other folder, TFIR. Before I read your comment.

Absolutely killing us.

um...we won....

Let's score 2 runs every game and see how many we win tho.

Totally agree.

You just can't keep running out mediocre bats like that (Swisher, Ramirez, Chisenhall, and Bourn) and expect to consistently put up runs.

Again, I would call up Lindor, and trade for a 3B. That makes Bourn's bat do-able.

PS - even Santana has been below par this season! I do expect a rebound.

But spurts by Kipnis, Brantley and Moss have pretty much been the offense. Gomes' return should help.

Bourn has hit about 300 since he dropped to the bottom of the lineup. Compared to our SS and 3B he's good enough. AAA OFs are not doing a lot. Naquin still in AA is over 300, but still in AA. Quality is still in A ball although I expect Zimmer with Akron soon. But he won't be ready to replace Bourn until middle 2016 or more likely 2017.

Chaise hall has just killed us today. Booted two easy double play balls and left guys on base.e has to go.

I understand wanting to give a prospect a full shot But he has had the full shot, and way, way more.

Move on. Like I said, even a Uribe-type would be an upgrade. Not saying much.

Clearly Antonetti has us on speed dial.



Jose Ramirez - SS - Indians

Indians optioned INF Jose Ramirez to Triple-A Columbus.
The 22-year-old opened the season as the team's starting shortstop, but has hit just .180/.247/.240 with one homer, eight RBI and a 24/13 K/BB ratio in 150 at-bats on the season. No word yet on the corresponding move, but Francisco Lindor could potentially be heading to the big leagues.

Now he needs to find the Chisenhall replacement.

Give Urshela a look if a good trade option isn't available.