Carlos and Carlos carry Indians with a little help from Andrew Miller

Cleveland Indians 1, Oakland Athletics 0

Box Score

Indians skyrocket to 72-51

7.5 game lead in AL Central.

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Tom Hamilton accidentally said that "Carlos Carrasco's solo home run in the 8th" made the difference in today's game. While the specifics might not match up with this, the truth isn't too far from it. Carrasco pitched eight brilliant innings tonight, allowing only four hits and striking out nine. Just when the Athletics caught a breather from Carrasco, the Indians sent in Andrew Miller. As you may or may not be aware, Miller arrived from the future as part of a transchronal trade with the New York Yankees and the Olympus Monsters of Mars circa 2127*. Miller's futureball destroyed the A's. He struck out the side on thirteen pitches and gave a glimpse of what the interplanetary future of the game will hold for our children's unaging children.

*I apologize. It's late and I just started re-reading Bradbury. I can't find an original source for this image, either, so one must assume it slipped through during a disturbance in spacetime. Therefore, photo cred goes to Kurt Gabler Jr of Interplanetary Sports Illustrated.

The Atheltics pitched a phenomenal game, too. Andrew Triggs flashed voodoo magic on the mound. He went six innings and pounded both sides of the plate with great movement on his sinker and slider. He baffled the Indians throughout tonight's game and hung a zero on the board for the Atheltics when he left. As this was only the 4th start Triggs has made in the majors, I wonder if the A's had him on a strict pitch count. Then again, the Indians threatened twice with runners on second and third, so perhaps that A's staff recognized when his stuff started to unravel.

For a moment, things didn't look too clear for the Indians. LGMFFT Coco Crisp stroked a ball into the right field corner. Even for someone like Roberto Perez the hit would be a stand-up double; Old Man Coco Crisp dug around second and tried to stretch it into a triple. A strong throw from Chisenhall and relay from Kipnis led to an out call at third base. When I saw it live, I felt pretty sure that Crisp was save. When I watched the replay, I knew that Crisp beat the tag. The team in New York decided that there conclusive video evidence didn't exist. I wonder how often they err on the side of outs for west coast games. The very next hit for the Athletics? A single, which would have made for a very different outcome.

The Indians' only run came on a titanic blast from Carlos Carrasco Santana, who now owns 27 bombs on the season, tying a career high.

Soon, he'll be exploring the unexplored above Cloud City, discovering crazy numbers like "28" and maybe even "Six Squared".

The losing pitcher for the Athletics tonight is R. Dull, which basically encapsulates their entire season.

Takeaway from tonight's game: The Indians belong in the discussion for the most dominant pitching staff in baseball, and I don't think it will be a long or difficult discussion after watching Andrew Miller's Futureball®.

By the way, Nintendo, if you want to start making baseball games again, that'd be a good start.