The offense was again non-existent, but one unearned run was all Carlos Carrasco needed.

Carlos Carrasco was brilliant; he went 8.1 innings, allowing just four base runners and striking out 6. Carrasco threw 104 pitches, 72 of them for strikes. Minnesota hitters swung and missed at 6 of his 13 sliders. And 14 outs came via the ground ball, something that Carrasco normally doesn't do. His two-seam fastball was what drove his start; the pitch had excellent downward movement, and Twin hitters couldn't get on top of it. And he needed to be this good, as he was either pitching in a scoreless tie or up 1-0.

Carrasco ran into trouble in the fifth inning after Delmon Young doubled with one out, but was helped out by another Asdrubal Cabrera defensive gem. Luke Hughes hit a grounder ticketed for center field, but Cabrera laid out and nabbed the ball, keeping Young at third. Carrasco would then retire Brian Dinkleman on a foul out to the catcher, and strike out Rene Rivera to end the threat. That was the only real scoring chance the Twins would have until the ninth inning.

The Indians scored their lone run thanks to a Delmon Young error. Carlos Santana lined a double down the left field line to lead off the fourth inning. The ball bounced off the outcrop in left field, and Young couldn't handle it, allowing Santana to go to third. Santana scored on a Shelley Duncan groundout, and because the second and third outs of the inning came on line drive or fly outs, the run was unearned.

Carrasco came out to start to ninth, but after he gave up a one-out single, was removed in favor of closer Chris Perez. Perez finished things off, ending the game with a borderline called strike three. Chris has looked much better in his recent outings; he's been able to throw his fastball for strikes, making his slider much more effective.

via www.fangraphs.com