Facing the best offense in the American League, Carmona struggled early before finally settling down in the Indians' 5-4 loss to the Angels in front of 18,341 at Progressive Field. He remains winless in his four outings since being recalled on July 31.

The Angels scored five runs in the first three innings off Carmona and the Tribe trailed, 5-1, in the third, when the team was unable to convert on the first of two big opportunities.

The Indians racked up five straight one-out singles to score two runs and get themselves back within two. But Travis Hafner struck out and Luis Valbuena popped out to Angels pitcher Trevor Bell to leave the bases loaded.

The Tribe's second lost opportunity came in the seventh when the Indians loaded the bases with one out. Jhonny Peralta singled in Grady Sizemore, and Asdrubal Cabrera was held up trying to score from third. That brought up Hafner, who was unsuccessful in the team's previous chance at a big inning. Just like the previous time, he couldn't come up with a clutch hit, grounding into a double play to effectively end the Indians' chance at a series-opening victory.