Cleveland Indians Hoping For Third Straight Gem Against the Rays

Indians’ Carrasco looks to follow in line with solid effort

The talk around the Cleveland Indians in this series has centered around the stellar pitching performances in the first two games, as each starter took a no-hitter into at least the sixth. But the offense has finally come along as well, and the Tribe will turn to Carlos Carrasco in hopes of a third straight win against the Tampa Bay Rays on the road.

The Indians (35-41) are trying to pull out of the tailspin that was a doubleheader shutout against the Orioles. They’ve done so with great pitching, but the offense is the one to thank as they’ve provided some run support for their starters. They’ve scored 13 runs in their last two games. In the previous nine games, they tallied just 22–and that was with an eight-run outing against the Tigers.

Carrasco (9-6, 4.16) was highly effective in that game, allowing just two runs and five hits over eight innings in picking up the win in that game. He’s alternated wins and losses over his last four, so let’s hope that pattern changes tonight. He can become the third pitcher in the AL to reach 10 wins.

The Tribe used a power surge in last night’s victory, as they slammed three homers against the Rays (42-37), including one by Jason Kipnis who tallied just one hit, but is still third in the AL in average with a .346. They’ll face Alex Colome (3-3, 4.50), who tossed seven scoreless against the Indians on June 21, a game the Tribe won on a David Murphy walk-off sacrifice fly.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET once again at Tropicana Field. SportsTime Ohio has the TV coverage while WMMS 100.7 and WTAM 1100 have the radio broadcast.

Here’s a look at the lineups for tonight’s game:

Next: The Indians aren't bad when they score some runs