|
 Carrasco gave the beleaguered Cleveland rotation a quality start
Wednesday night as the Indians pounded out a 10-3 victory over the
Royals on Wednesday night.
Carrasco (4-2) limited the Royals to three runs on five hits, while
striking out six, including left fielder Alex Gordon four times, to
pick up the victory. It was the first time Carrasco beat the Royals
since May 17, 2011.
"Carrasco was awfully good, changing speeds, good changeup, good
slider, a good heavy two-seamer," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "He
was tough."
The Indians' starters had a 7.41 ERA with one quality start in the
previous 10 games, seven of them losses.
"I felt good before the game," Carrasco said. "I just felt like it
was going to be a good day."
Right fielder Brandon Moss homered, doubled and drove in three runs
as the Indians scored nine or more runs for the third time in five
games.
Shortstop Mike Aviles reached base four times -- three singles and
hit by a pitch -- and scored two runs.
The Royals trimmed the lead to 5-3 in the sixth when center fielder
Lorenzo Cain tripled and scored on first baseman Eric Hosmer's
double.
The Indians, however, iced this one away with a four-run seventh off
left-hander Franklin Morales, the fourth Kansas City hurler. Moss
drove in two runs with a double, while left fielder Ryan Raburn
contributed an RBI double and Aviles punched a run-producing single.
"That was a big swing there, where Carlos holds them and then we
score," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "That's the way we've
got to play because they're a good team."
Moss homered, his fifth, in the ninth.
Duffy (2-1) retired only three of the 10 batters he faced.
The Indians scored a run in the first, but it could have been more
if not for the accurate arm of Cain.
Second baseman Jason Kipnis led off the game with a double to right.
Third base coach Mike Sarbaugh assertively waved Kipnis home on
first baseman Carlos Santana's single to center, but Cain's laser to
catcher Salvador Perez beat him to the plate. The inning included
Raburn hit by a pitch and Santana scoring on a wild pitch.
Duffy faced five batters in the second and retired only himself.
Duffy gave up four hits and hit shortstop Mike Aviles with a pitch
before Yost pulled him.
"He just looked out of sorts," Yost said. "He just couldn't find his
rhythm and it didn't look like to me he was going to find it. I
wanted to try to stop the bleeding right there and keep us in the
ball game and get a chance to battle back in. We did a great job of
that until the seventh inning."
Duffy's unattractive line: one inning, plus five batters, four runs,
six hits and two hit batters. He threw 45 pitches to get three outs,
the briefest outing of his career when not removed for an injury.
His ERA jumped from 3.45 to 4.55.
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"What I feel most frustrated with is taxing our bullpen so hard
today," Duffy said. "I just chalk it up to a bad start. I'm not in
any way, shape or form happy with anything that I did out there
outside of getting 0-2 to Kipnis in the first inning.
"I didn't have it today. I didn't set this team up even in shouting
distance. By the time I came out of the game, it was a pretty
significant deficit. It's very frustrating."
The three-run inning featured third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall's RBI
double and run-producing singles by catcher Brett Hayes and Kipnis.
Rookie left-hander Brandon Finnegan replaced Duffy and restored
order by striking out Santana looking and inducing center fielder
Michael Brantley to ground into a double play.
The Indians increased their lead to 5-0 in the fourth, when Finnegan
had difficulty throwing strikes. He gave up a leadoff single to
Aviles and walked three in the inning. Santana's sacrifice fly
scored Aviles. Right-hander Chris Young was summoned to get the
final out of the inning, striking out Raburn with the bases loaded.
Designated hitter Kendrys Morales homered with Cain aboard in the
bottom of the inning to cut the lead to 5-2.
NOTES: LHP Bruce Chen will be promoted from Triple-A Columbus and
start Saturday for the Indians against the Minnesota Twins. Chen,
who made his big league debut in 1998, is 2-1 with a 1.74 ERA in
five International League starts. The Indians will be his 12th big
league club. ... Royals backup C Erik Kratz was placed on the
disabled list with a torn left plantar fasciitis. The Royals
recalled C Francisco Pena, who is the younger brother of former
Royals SS Tony Pena, from Triple-A Omaha. Pena struck out in the
ninth in his first big league plate-appearance. ... Cain returned to
the lineup after being suspended for two games and RHP Greg Holland
came off the disabled list after missing 16 games with a right
pectoral strain. ... RHP Corey Kluber, the 2014 American League Cy
Young Award winner, seeks his first victory Thursday after going 0-4
with a 4.62 ERA in his first six starts. The Royals will counter
with RHP Edinson Volquez.
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