After their eighth last at-bat win of the season last night against the Boston Red Sox, the Indians will try to win their fifth straight game on Tuesday night when Fausto Carmona tries to bounce back from a rough outing in Chicago last week against Boston’s Josh Beckett.
Carmona (3-4, 4.76 ERA) who has two more losses than anyone else in the starting rotation, was touched for seven hits and eight runs in only five innings in the White Sox’ 8-2 triumph over the Tribe last Thursday — the Indians’ last defeat.
Carmona will be making his second appearance of the season against Boston after shutting the Sox down for seven innings on only two hits while receiving a no-decision in a 1-0 Indians’ win on April 7. Against Boston in his career, Carmona is 2-3 with a 3.44 ERA in 36.2 innings, covering eight appearances, including six starts.
Beckett (3-1, 1.73 ERA) lost to the Indians 3-1 on April 5 and is 3-5 vs. Cleveland in his career with an ERA of 5.55 in 48.2 innings over eight starts.
Beckett has been on fire of late. In his last 23.1 innings of work over four starts, Beckett has surrendered only one run, although he has only one decision — a victory over the Yankees — to show for that stretch of dominance.
The series will conclude with a 12:05 game on Wednesday afternoon before the Indians enjoy a day-off on Thursday.
The Red Sox still trail New York and Tampa Bay by a half-game in the East, while the Indians maintained their seven-game advantage over the Detroit Tigers in the Central with their latest dramatic triumph last night.