TORONTO — Carlos Carrasco struck out 14 over seven-plus innings as the Cleveland Indians won their 13th straight game on Thursday night, defeating the Toronto Blue Jays 4-1.
Carrasco (4-2) continued the dominance that he displayed in his last start — a complete game shutout against Detroit — by going 7 1/3 innings, allowing just one run on three hits and walking two.
Cody Allen picked up his 17th save of the season by working a perfect ninth.
Rajai Davis and Jason Kipnis hit solo home runs to lead the Indians (48-30), who last lost on June 16 to the Kansas City Royals.
Josh Donaldson had a solo home run of his own for the Blue Jays (43-38), who started an 11-game homestand at Rogers Centre.
R.A. Dickey (5-9) rebounded from some early struggles to go seven innings, allowing eight hits while striking out four and walking one.
Davis led off the second inning with a home run, smacking the first pitch he saw into the seats just above the Blue Jays bullpen to give Cleveland a 1-0 lead.
Kipnis extended the lead to 2-0 in the third with a solo shot to right field for his 11th home run of the season.
Carrasco struck out the side in the third inning, getting Justin Smoak, Darwin Barney and Josh Thole all swinging.
Donaldson, the reigning American League MVP, got one back for Toronto in the bottom of the fourth with a solo shot to straight-away centre field.
It was Donaldson's 19th home run of the campaign. He's now reached base safely in 32 of his last 33 games.
Carrasco had retired nine straight Blue Jays up until the Donaldson homer.
Jose Ramirez had an RBI single in the sixth to make it 3-1 for the Indians. He drove in Mike Napoli, who led off the inning with a double to left field.
Dickey picked off Ramirez shortly after with a quick snap throw to first base.
Left-handed reliever Brett Cecil came on in relief of Dickey to pitch a scoreless eighth inning. The Blue Jays activated Cecil from the disabled list earlier Thursday. The 29-year-old had been out since May 15 with a muscle strain in his left arm.
Toronto started a rally in the eighth inning when Barney hit a one-out double that ended Carrasco's night. Bryan Shaw came on in relief and struck out pinch hitter Russell Martin before walking Ezequiel Carrera. Devon Travis struck out to end the threat.
Tyler Naquin hit a triple in the ninth that scored Davis to give Cleveland a three-run cushion.
Travis extended his hitting streak to seven games with a one-out single in the bottom of the first.
The second baseman now has hits in 15 of his last 16 games. Travis is the third quickest Blue Jay to reach 100 hits, doing so in 93 career games. Alex Rios was the fastest, collecting 100 hits in 85 games.
Notes: Announced attendance was 41,365. . . Ryan Tepera was optioned to triple-A Buffalo to make room for Cecil on the Blue Jays roster. . . Toronto's Marcus Stroman (6-4, 5.33 ERA) faces Cleveland's Josh Tomlin (9-1, 3.32 ERA) in a Canada Day matinee Friday.
Entertainment Plaza - TV, Movies, Sports, Music, Soaps
http://members.shaw.ca/almosthuman99
Babe Of The Month - Vote Now!
http://members.shaw.ca/almosthuman99/babeofthemonth.html
Hunk Of The Month - Vote Now!
http://members.shaw.ca/almosthuman99/babeofthemonthman.html
No comments:
Post a Comment