via www.fangraphs.com

The expected weather for today's game was cold, with a good possibility of rain. The rain stayed away, but so did the fans; the announced attendance figure was less than 10,000.

On Friday, Chicago hitters were patient with Fausto Carmona, fouling off pitches before picking on one high in the strike zone. They changed their approach today, jumping on Carlos Carrasco fastballs early in the count. At one point in the second inning, they got four hits on just seven pitches. Had Jack Hannahan not made a very good diving catch to end the second, Carrasco might not have made it through the inning. Beginning in the third, Carlos started to throw (and locate) his off-speed pitches early in the count, and things settled down. Because all those runs given up came on so few pitches, he was able to go into the seventh.

The Cleveland offense rallied after falling behind, scoring three runs in the bottom of the second off of Chicago starter Edwin Jackson. Travis Hafner hit his first home run of the year to lead off the inning, and Jack Hannahan plated two more by singling down the left field line. Hannahan picked up Matt LaPorta, who had struck out with runners on second and third with nobody out. Later in the inning, Asdrubal Cabrera and Shin-Soo Choo came to the plate with the tying runs on base, but neither could come through. Travis Hafner connected well with a pitch in the third, but his bat split down the barrel on contact. (Even so, the ball almost made it to the warning track.) Had the bat stayed intact, the ball probably would have left the yard, tying the game. The Indians left two runners on in the third and fifth innings. Jackson, like Carrasco, got stronger as the game went on.

Chad Durbin, relieving Carrasco in the seventh, made his first appearance with the Indians since 2004. Now a full-time reliever, Durbin was signed by the Indians to pitch in the late innings. His first assignment of the season was to get Alex Rios with two outs and a runner on. He walked Konerko on four pitches, then gave up a critical two-run double to Carlos Quentin. Durbin later pitched a 1-2-3 eighth, but the damage was done.

Next Up: Chicago, 1:05 PM.