White Sox rock Carlos Carrasco to edge Indians

The Chicago White Sox spoiled the homecoming of temporary Tribe reliever Carlos Carrasco — making his first appearance on the mound at Progressive Field since he was diagnosed with leukemia back in June — by hammering the right-hander for four runs in the eighth, including a go-ahead solo home run from Eloy Jiménez. The Cleveland Indians failed to mount a late-inning comeback, suffering a 6-5 defeat to their division rival.

The Tribe appeared to take control of the game in the seventh, when Roberto Pérez blasted a three-run homer into the left field bleachers to break open a tie ballgame. Alas, it was for naught.

Up until the seventh, the Tribe lineup seemed content providing only the minimum amount of flare against rookie White Sox starter Dylan Cease. Rocked by the Twins for 10 hits and eight earned runs over two innings of his work in his last outing, Cease bounced back against the Indians with arguably his best outing of the season, because of course he did. The right-hander struck out a season-high (and big league career-high) 11 batters over 6.2 innings, utilizing a nasty curveball to keep the Tribe off balance. Cease settled in after allowing a leadoff homer to Francisco Lindor, holding serve until the fifth when Pérez would score Franmil Reyes on an RBI single.

Then came the seventh. Cease was within one out of departing the game after a clean inning, but allowed back-to-back walks to Reyes and Mike Freeman. Evan Marshall relieved Cease, but failed to put out the fire. Roberto Pérez crushed an up-and-in change-up to give the Indians a 5-2 lead.

Unfortunately, that brief lead became a casualty of Carlos Carrasco’s rough transition back to the big leagues as a member of the Indians’ bullpen. Carrasco allowed back-to-back singles to open the eighth before striking out José Abreu and Yoan Moncada, needing one out from James McCann for a clean inning of relief. Instead, McCann matched Pérez’s three-run homer with one of his own, knotting the game at five apiece. Jiménez followed with a solo homer — his second of the night — to give the White Sox a 6-5 lead they would not relinquish.

The Indians’ actual starter, Mike Clevinger, pitched well enough for the Tribe to win, despite walking four batters. He struck out nine over seven innings, but was also menaced by Eloy Jiménez. The White Sox left fielder delivered a game-tying RBI double in the second inning and a game-tying solo home run in the seventh, preceding his heroics in the eighth.