After Dan Haren of the Angels tossed a one-hitter at the Indians on April 12, it might be considered a formidable task to try to beat Haren this afternoon in a rematch in the same venue, but after solving Jered Weaver last night, the Tribe faces Haren at 3:35 with a chance to go 4-2 on this west coast swing before returning home.
Fausto Carmona gets the job of trying to match-up with Haren in a personal rematch of that April 12 game, won by Los Angeles 2-0.
Carmona (3-3, 4.43 ERA) is coming off of a win over Oakland on Tuesday, In that game, Carmona held the A’s to one run on five hits in eight innings, with one walk and five strikeouts. Since Opening Day, Carmona has allowed only 12 earned runs in 41 2/3 innings, for a 2.59 ERA over that span.
This will be Carmona’s ninth career appearance against the Angels, against whom he is 0-3 but with a nice 2.11 ERA.
Haren (4-2, 1.76 ERA) is now 3-2 in his career against Cleveland, with a 4.06 ERA in 51 innings, but that one-hitter in April will be what the Indians think about when they take the field today.
Haren had a somewhat rough outing in Boston on Tuesday, but went seven innings in a 7-3 loss, giving up four runs on nine hits, with eight K’s.
The Angels, surprisingly, have lost the last three games started by Haren. If the Tribe could run that streak to four, they would come home for an off-day tomorrow with a 23-10 record.
Now let’s see if The Good Guys can do what they could not last time Haren took the mound against them.
It will be another test of the offense, and another tough contest for Carmona. But Fausto has been pitching like an ace as of late. That kind of performance this afternoon, and the flight home might be a happy one.
Go Tribe!