Carlos Carrasco breezed through the first five inning tonight, allowing only two hits, but unfortunately, the Indians — after knocking Kyle Davies around a bit early — have gone into an offensive funk, and in the sixth inning it has come back to haunt the Tribe, who saw Kansas City string four hits in a row together in the sixth and now trail the Royals 3-2 heading for the seventh inning.
The Indians stranded a runner at second in both the fourth and the sixth frames, and in the bottom of the sixth, Mike Aviles led off with a shallow single, then scored on a short double to left from Melky Cabrera, tying the game at two.
Kansas City then took the lead on a base hit by Alex Gordon, scoring Cabrera and making it 3-2. Another shallow hit followed, putting runners at first and second, and here Carlos Carrasco cracked down, inducing a foul out to Kila Ka’aihue and getting Jeff Francoeur to hit into a double play to end the threat with the game still within reach.
The Indians have seven hits through six innings, and have left four on base. At present, Davies is the pitcher of record on the winning side, and as the seventh inning begins, Davies has been lifted in favor of Jeremy Jeffress.
Through six innings, Carrasco has allowed six hits, three earned runs, and has walked one and struck out four.