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 "We dodged a really big bullet," said Francona, after a frightening
moment in the first inning of the Indians' 4-1 loss to the Chicago
White Sox Tuesday night at Progressive Field.
Cleveland right-hander Carlos Carrasco apparently avoided serious
injury after getting hit in the head by a line drive off the bat of
White Sox left fielder Melky Cabrera in the first inning.
The ball deflected off Carrasco's glove, and hit him on the right
side of the face. He fell to the ground and remained face down for
several minutes as Francona and the team trainers rushed to the
mound. The trainers immediately called for a cart.
Carrasco was eventually helped to his feet and guided to the cart,
which carried him off the field. He was taken to a local hospital
and was being treated for a jaw contusion. X-rays were negative and
he showed no signs of a concussion or head injury.
Francona, who called the moment "agonizing," said Carrasco got hit
on the jaw, near the ear.
"Anytime you see someone laying there like that," said Francona.
"The good news is he went through all the tests and there was no
fracture. It's a bruise to the jaw, and a pretty good one."
Given the circumstances, that was about as good a report as the
Indians could have gotten.
"We'll check how he feels in the morning, but in the big picture, we
dodged a really big bullet," said Francona.
"It was a very tough moment," Cabrera said, through a translator.
"It was real scary because it hit his face."
Cabrera walked to the mound while Carrasco was being attended to.
"I felt bad," Cabrera said. "At first I thought the ball hit
directly in his face, but then I realized it was on the side. "I
heard a few minutes ago that he's Ok. That's a relief. I was very
concerned about him."
The Indians can ill-afford the loss of another key player. On
Sunday, the team placed catcher Yan Gomes on the disabled list with
sprained ligaments in his knee. He is expected to miss the next two
months, and left fielder Michael Brantley has only played in two of
the Indians' seven games due to lower back issues.
Left-hander Jose Quintana (1-0) started for the White Sox and in six
innings held Cleveland to one unearned run on three hits with six
strikeouts and two walks.
"His strikes and balls were pretty even, but we were never able to
make him pay," Francona said.
Left-handed relievers Dan Jennings and Zach Duke likewise gave
Cleveland's lefty-heavy lineup fits in the seventh and eighth
innings and right-hander David Robertson pitched the ninth to pick
up his second save. The three relievers combined to strike out eight
of the last 10 Cleveland hitters in the game. Duke and Robertson
struck out the last six batters in a row.
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Carrasco (0-1) took the loss.
Right-hander Zach McAllister relieved Carrasco and threw a wild
pitch that allowed Adam Eaton, who led off the game with an infield
single, to move to third and Cabrera to second.
First baseman Jose Abreu struck out for the first out. Eaton scored
on a groundout by designated hitter Adam LaRoche. Right fielder
Avisail Garcia singled to center, scoring Cabrera and giving the
White Sox a 2-0 lead.
"That's a tough situation to come into," McAllister said. "It was a
very scary moment. You don't want to see something like that."
"You like to have a rally, but you don't like to see that happen,"
said Chicago manager Robin Ventura. "That's beyond the baseball
stuff. Anytime a guy gets hit like that, it's always scary."
The White Sox made it 3-0 on an RBI infield single by catcher Tyler
Flowers in the top of the fourth inning.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Indians tagged Quintana for a run.
Left fielder Jerry Sands singled, went to second on a passed ball
and scored on a two-out double by designated hitter Ryan Raburn,
cutting the Chicago lead to 3-1.
The White Sox got that run back in the top of the fifth on a solo
homer by Abreu off left-hander Nick Hagadone to make the score 4-1.
NOTES: Before the game, the Indians purchased the contract of C
Brett Hayes from Triple-A Columbus. Hayes will serve as the backup
to C Roberto Perez, who replaced injured starting C Yan Gomes, who
is on the DL with a knee injury. The Indians designated RHP Shaun
Marcum for assignment in order to create a spot on the 40-man roster
for Hayes. ... RHP Jhoulys Chacin and RHP Ryan Webb signed minor
league contracts with the Indians. ... The White Sox have two
players closing in on 100 career homers. SS Alexei Ramirez needs one
and OF Melky Cabrera is 12 away.
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