Game 23: Giants 5, Indians 1
Carlos Carrasco drives me nuts. It's been years since he was anything close to a successful MLB starter, but because of his pedigree, his stuff, and a lack of other options, many Tribe fans feel obligated to hold onto the possibility that he'll put things together. Pitcher wins are a pretty stupid statistic, but I'll mention that Carrasco hasn't managed a single one of them in his last 17 starts, dating all the way back to June, 2011. A game like tonight's ends up doing almost nothing to settle matters concerning Carasco, because he retired the last nine batters he faced, four of them on strikeouts ("He's so good!"), but that stretch didn't begin until just after he gave up a long home run that put the Tribe behind 4-1 with no outs in the 4th inning ("Ahh, get rid of him!").
Given that I think Danny Salazar should be sent down for a few weeks to work things out, I don't know that I can really call for a second starter to be removed from the rotation right now (though Josh Tomlin did throw 8 shutout innings for Columbus tonight), but I don't enjoy watching Carrasco pitch, and I don't think he's ever going to be a good MLB starter.
Carrasco was far from the only problem tonight though. As they have too many times this month, the lineup failed to do much of anything. Michael Bourn, Nick Swisher, Jason Kipnis, and Carlos Santana each managed to reach safely twice (Santana by drawing the first and only two walks Ginats starter Tim Hudson has issued this season), but Michael Brantley, Asdrubal Cabrera, Lonnie Chisenhall, and David Murphy combined to go 0 for 15 (Brantley struck out twice for the first time this season; he struck out more than once in just 9 games in each of the last two seasons).
The Tribe scored its only run in the 3rd inning. They had two on with one out in the 6th, but Brantley and Cabrera could drive anyone in; they had two on with no outs in the 8th, but Kipnis, Santana, and Brantley couldn't do anything about it. The two walks help Santana's OBP, but he's now batting just .133. Ouch. He also took a couple foul tips of his shoulder, which can't feel good. Yan Gomes had the night off, but should be back in the lineup Saturday; don't be surprised if Santana gets the day off.
First pitch is scheduled for 4:05 ET. Zach McAllister will start for the Indians, with Tim Lincecum taking the mound for San Francisco.
Box Score
Win-expectancy chart:
Source: FanGraphs
Roll Call
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