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 Right-hander Carlos Carrasco became the third consecutive Indians
starter to go the distance, throwing a two-hit gem and leading
Cleveland to a 3-1 victory over the Oakland A's on Thursday night at
the O.co Coliseum.
Carrasco (11-8) pitched his fifth career complete game. He struck
out seven, raising his season total to 140, and walked one.
"Oh boy, he was good," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "The
first inning he gives up an infield hit and then a double, and then
after that, that was it.
"He pounded the strike zone, he established his fastball, and off of
that, he threw a real good changeup, breaking ball. And again, just
kept them at bay the whole night. That's a good feeling. We get
three in the first and make it stand."
Cleveland's Trevor Bauer pitched a complete game against Kansas City
on Tuesday, and Corey Kluber followed suit against the Royals on
Wednesday. The last major league team to have complete games on
three consecutive days was Oakland from July 31-Aug. 2, 2010, when
Dallas Braden, Gio Gonzalez and Trevor Cahill accomplished the feat.
"It feels good," Carrasco said of continuing the streak. "You kind
of compete a little bit."
Carrasco gave up a run in the first inning, then blanked the A's
over the next eight frames. He won his fourth straight road start
and improved to 7-2 away from Progressive Field.
First baseman Carlos Santana hit a two-run homer during a three-run
first inning for the Indians. Shortstop Francisco Lindor went
2-for-4, stole a base and scored a run.
A's right-hander Chris Bassitt (0-4) gave up three runs on six hits
over seven innings, striking out six and walking one. Bassitt gave
up all three runs in the first, then pitched six straight shutout
innings. In his past five starts, he has allowed a combined 10 runs
over 29 innings (3.10 ERA) but emerged with zero wins.
"We're just not giving him any run support," A's manager Bob Melvin
said. "He hasn't won a game yet, but I don't think he's given up
more than three runs. He's been good, and he knows he's here for a
while. He's done a nice job."
A's right fielder Josh Reddick went 1-for-4 with an RBI double, and
center fielder Billy Burns went 1-for-4, stole a base and scored a
run.
After the first inning, Carrasco allowed just two baserunners, one
on an error and the other on a walk. Neither runner got past first
base.
Carrasco has been the subject of trade rumors the past few weeks
approaching Friday's non-waiver trade deadline. Francona talked to
Carrasco last week about those rumors and tried to calm his nerves.
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"It looked like it was bothering him a little bit (before we
spoke)," Francona said. "So I just said, 'Hey man, teams call
because you're coveted. That's a good thing.' We're not dying to let
our pitching go away, and they know that."
Lindor hit an infield single with one out in the first inning,
igniting Cleveland's three-run rally. Left fielder Michael Brantley
then sliced an opposite-field double to left. The ball ricocheted
off the wall just beyond the bullpen and bounced past left fielder
Sam Fuld for an error as Lindor raced home.
Santana made it 3-0 with a two-run shot over the center field fence,
his 12th home run of the season.
"I'm kind of a guy that gets ready really quick in the bullpen and I
feel like I just got ready a little too fast today," Bassitt said.
"I probably had 10 minutes sitting there in the dugout just waiting
and waiting. I feel like my stuff wasn't sharp the first inning, and
after that, I kind of got going. I wasn't sharp in the first inning,
and they made me pay."
The A's answered with a run in the bottom of the first. Burns led
off with an infield single, stole second and scored on Reddick's
one-out double down the right field line.
NOTES: Indians OF Brandon Moss was traded to St. Louis for highly
touted minor league LHP Rob Kaminsky. The Indians acquired Moss from
Oakland in an offseason trade. He led Cleveland in home runs (15)
and ranked second in RBIs (50) but was batting just .217 with 106
strikeouts. ... The Indians called up OF/INF Lonnie Chisenhall from
Triple-A Columbus. He started at designated hitter and went 0-for-3.
... A's LHP Sean Doolittle (strained left shoulder) threw a bullpen
session for the first time since returning to the disabled list on
May 28, one day after experiencing a setback in his season debut.
"It went really, really well," Doolittle said. "Very good. I felt
great." ... A's DH Billy Butler, who entered the game batting .214
in July, batted seventh in the order for the first time this season.
He has hit fourth 67 times, fifth 20 times and sixth four times.
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