Reaction: Carrasco Hurt, Cleveland Indians’ Bats Stay Quiet In 4-1 Loss to White Sox

The Indians’ bats were quiet again in a 4-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox at Progressive Field on Tuesday, but the biggest loss came in the first inning. Starter Carlos Carrasco was removed from the game after being hit in the head with a line drive, forcing the Tribe to again turn to their bullpen earlier than planned. 

Key Moments
First Inning
Carrasco made it only two batters in before being hit in the jaw with a comebacker off of the bat of Melky Cabrera. Carrasco didn’t get up for several minutes, and he was carted off the field with the injury. Zach McAllister came on to replace him, allowing Adam Eaton to score on an Adam LaRoche ground out and giving up an RBI single to Avisail Garcia before escaping the inning. Both runs were charged to Carrasco.

Fourth Inning
McAllister gave up a leadoff single to LaRoche to start the fourth, and allowed a one-out walk to Alexei Ramirez. Tyler Flowers added on to the White Sox’s lead with a two-out RBI single. That was the end of the line for McAllister, who finished with four hits, a walk and a strikeout in 3.2 innings, while allowing just one earned run of his own. Ryan Raburn tried to make up for the lack of Indians’ offense in the bottom half of the inning, doubling in a run after Jerry Sands reached on a single.

Fifth Inning
Jose Abreu immediately responded to the Tribe’s run, launching a long homer to left field the following inning. It was the only run allowed for reliever Nick Hagadone, but the Indians weren’t able to respond.

The Positives
The Indians’ relievers were excellent in light of the situation, pitching all nine innings. In addition to McAllister, Hagadone went 1.1 innings and allowed just the one hit, and Anthony Swarzak and Austin Adams each pitched two scoreless innings. Swarzak gave up one hit and struck out two, while Adams allowed just one walk.

The Negatives
The Tribe’s offense hasn’t been heard from in a while, it seems. They had just three hits and three walks on Tuesday, along with 14 strikeouts. They just haven’t been able to get consecutive hits, and when they do, they allow the other team to respond the following inning. Something will have to change if they want to start winning.

Check It Out
– The team announced that Carrasco suffered a jaw contusion, with no concussions or other head injuries to speak of. That’s excellent news, in light of the seriousness of the hit he took. They haven’t mentioned when he’ll return, but it seems likely that he’ll miss at least one start despite the relatively minor injury.

– Unfortunately, the Tribe designated Shaun Marcum for assignment on Tuesday morning, and Josh Tomlin and Gavin Floyd are on the 60-day disabled list, so their options will be limited if Carrasco needs to miss an extended period of time. McAllister could be moved back to his rotation spot for the time being, but the Tribe could also slot in veteran lefty Bruce Chen.

– The Indians take on the White Sox in an early game tomorrow, as Trevor Bauer faces off against left-hander John Danks at Progressive Field. The Tribe will look to stop their four-game losing streak and pick up at least one win at home behind Bauer, who struck out eleven and didn’t allow a run in his first outing of the year. Danks gave up four runs in his last start, striking out just one batter.

Next: Update: Carlos Carrasco reportedly avoids serious injury, being treated for jaw contusion