CLEVELAND — Carlos Carrasco is in a groove and now so are the previously struggling Indians.
With Carrasco offering up his third straight dominant start Saturday night, Cleveland rolled to a 5-1 victory at Progressive Field, securing the series against interleague rival Pittsburgh by winning for the fourth time in six games.
The Indians’ offense is beginning to show signs of life, but it was Carrasco that stole the show, needing little support to win for the third straight time. The right-hander allowed just a run on four hits over 6 1/3 innings, no-hitting the Pirates while allowing just one baserunner over the first five innings.
“Carrasco continues to throw the ball very well,” said manager Manny Acta, whose team reassumed control of the Central Division with a one-game lead over Detroit in the standings. “He looks very comfortable out there.
“He’s in a very good groove right now. Hopefully he can continue to do that. He looks real good right now. He looks like he can throw any pitch in any count.”
Locating his fastball to near perfection while mixing in a steady diet of breaking pitches, Carrasco stymied Pirates hitters for the majority of his outing. He struck out four and walked one, extending his scoreless innings streak to 21 1/3 innings before allowing his only run in the seventh.
“I had command of everything tonight,” Carrasco said. “My slider was very good today.
“The most important thing is throwing deep into the game and that’s what I’ve done the last three games.”
Carrasco has done plenty over that span, winning three times, while posting a minuscule 0.41 ERA. He is 6-1 since May 11, and is tied for eighth in the American League with seven wins on the season to go along with a 3.87 ERA.
“He’s been great,” catcher Lou Marson said. “He’s locating his heater and pitching off his fastball, which is what he needs to do.”
Marson has been behind the plate for the majority of Carrasco’s starts, coming up with him in the Phillies organization in 2004. He is comfortable with his former minor league catcher behind the dish.
“He reads my mind,” Carrasco said of Marson. “He knows exactly what I want to throw.”
Carrasco allowed his first hit to lead off the sixth on a liner to second from Michael McKenry that could have been handled by Orlando Cabrera. Cabrera leapt and had the ball in his glove before it popped out and he couldn’t scoop it in time to throw to first.
Acta thought Cabrera was going to catch the ball.
“Of course,” he said. “I was thinking no-hitter like everyone else.”
Cabrera atoned himself by hitting a solo home run off Pirates starter Paul Maholm to put the Indians in front 3-0 in the sixth, his first homer since April 16.
The Indians scored single runs in each of the first two innings, then added two more after the Cabrera homer to put the game away in the seventh.
A leadoff triple from Grady Sizemore that just missed carrying the wall in center sparked the inning. Sizemore rode home on a sacrifice fly from Michael Brantley and after singling and stealing second, Asdrubal Cabrera scored on a two-out base hit from Shin-Soo Choo.
“We executed very well with runners in scoring position,” said Acta, whose team has struggled mightily in the department as of late. “We have to continue pushing. It’s a homestand we want to play well in.”
Sizemore, who entered the night riding an 0-for-10 skid, went 2-for-3 with an RBI, two runs, a double and a triple.
Cleveland improved to 24-9 when it scores first, 30-3 when it outhits its opponent and 25-3 when scoring at least five runs.
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Fan him Facebook and follow him on Twitter.
