Indians rally late, but Tigers hold on to win 8-6

Tigers 8, Indians 6

Box Score

Tribe falls to 6-11

Carlos Carrasco, who had mowed through opposing lineups in his first two full starts, got into trouble from the beginning of today's, allowing two runs on four hits in the first inning. Things didn't get much better from there, as he'd give up a run in the third and two more in the fifth before leaving the game. In total Carrasco allowed five runs on nine hits in 4.1 innings, with both totals more than double the totals in either of his previous two full start.

Rajai Davis, who is two years older than Michael Bourn, was the catalyst for much of the Detroit offense. He led off today's contest with a triple, and kept getting on base for the heart of the Tiger order. He had three hits on the day, and scored each time he reached base. Miguel Cabrera continued his domination of Tribe pitching with three more hits, including a two-run homer in the sixth inning that proved to be the difference in the game.

Meanwhile, the Tribe offense sputtered until Detroit starter Kyle Lobstein left the game. Ryan Raburn doubled home Carlos Santana in the second (but was thrown out trying to stretch the double into a triple), Brandon Moss snuck a single through the right side of the infield in the fourth to plate another run, and Michael Bourn grounded out to bring home a third run. In each case there was an opportunity to plate multiple runs, but nothing more came of it. A lineup full of decent hitters can score runs pretty regularly, but a lineup with a some productive hitters and several auto-outs makes things easy on opposing pitchers. Michael Bourn and Jason Kipnis each went 0-for-4 on the day, with the main problem being that they hit consecutive in the order (except for the first inning).

The Indians did mount a comeback off Detroit's bullpen, scoring two runs off Angel Nesbitt in the eighth, and David Muprhy hit a pinch-hit home run off close Joaquin Soria to make it an 8-6 deficit. Cody Allen, brought in in the bottom of the eighth in order to get some work in (he had not pitched since the Chicago series), and allowed a run on a bunt base hit, a ground ball single, and a sacrifice fly. He wasn't exactly hit hard, but the blemished frame continues a troubling trend of poor outings by the Tribe closer.

The road trip is finally over, with the Tribe going 3-6 against its AL Central rivals. If you add in the home series against the Tigers and White Sox, the Indians are now 4-10 within the division. That trend cannot continue if the Indians have any hopes of making the playoffs. They get an opportunity to improve their intra-division record tomorrow when the Royals come to town. Game time will be 6:10 PM Eastern (yes, it's an hour earlier than the usual weeknight start).

Source: FanGraphs

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