Indians starter Carlos Carrasco pitched well enough to earn his first victory of 2013, but the bullpen let things get away and the offense couldn’t keep up.
Carrasco — making his first start since serving a seven-game suspension — left with one out and a man on second in the eighth inning, while the Indians led by one run. The Royals tied the game after Bryan Shaw came on for relief before scoring the go-ahead run an inning later on a wild pitch from Matt Albers that went through catcher Carlos Santana’s legs.
Just like that, all the fine work Carrasco put in was wasted, as the Tribe dropped Monday’s series opener, 2-1.
“He was so good,” manager Terry Francona said. “[He] used his fastball [on] both sides of the plate, went to his breaking ball later in the game, when they had seen him a couple times. Good pitch sequencing. I thought Carlos [Santana] called a really good game. They worked really well together.
“That’s probably a little bit much to ask for every outing, but boy, I’ll tell you what, that’s what we’ve kind of been hoping for.”
Carrasco began by the game by retiring the first 13 Royals hitters until Lorenzo Cain singled to right with one out in the fifth. The right-hander left to a warm round of applause after tossing 7 1/3 innings. Carrasco allowed one run and four hits, while striking out four and walking one.
“I just feel good,” Carrasco said. “The way that I did today, I feel fine.”
When Shaw entered, he recorded an out before allowing a bloop double to Eric Hosmer, which let Chris Getz race home with the tying run. Previously, Shaw had stranded nine straight inherited runners.
“Actually, Shaw made a really good pitch,” Francona said. “He jammed him and got the little bleeder.”
At the time of his exit, Carrasco had thrown 90 pitches. The right-hander said he would have liked to stay in, but Francona didn’t think that would have been the best thing for Carrasco, whose recent appearances have been limited to a simulated game last Thursday and a June 8 outing in Detroit.
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