Napoli drove in four runs – two on a gift double, two on a ball that bounced out of Progressive Field – and the Indians stretched their lead over Detroit in the AL Central to seven games by beating the second-place Tigers 11-4 on Friday night.
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“It hurts”, said Manager Terry Francona of the loss of Carrasco.
The Cleveland Indians’ already-thin starting rotation was dealt a huge blow Saturday when Carlos Carrasco suffered a fractured finger on his pitching hand.
Carrasco’s quick exit meant a heavy work day for the Cleveland bullpen, and the relievers responded. Carrasco missed six weeks earlier this season with a strained left hamstring, also sustained against the Tigers. No. 3 starter Danny Salazar has not pitched since September 9 because of a strained right forearm and is expected to miss the rest of the season.
There is no current timeframe for his return, but it puts the Indians’ potential playoff rotation in serious jeopardy. The initial diagnosis was a hand contusion but we’ll know more after he gets his X-ray results back. “Even though I feel good about the way I pitched, it stinks”.
PIRATES 10-7, REDS 4-3: Former Ray Sean Rodriguez homered in both games, and Andrew McCutchen had a bases-loaded single in a sweep for visiting Pittsburgh. Cleveland went on to win 1-0. “They’ve scored runs and we’ve got to find a way to stop them from scoring runs”. Manship, Kyle Crockett, Cody Anderson, Zach McAllister, Perci Garner, Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen preceded Miller.
RED SOX 6, YANKEES 5: Xander Bogaerts hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs, Mookie Betts had the tying single before scoring the go-ahead run and host Boston earned its third straight win over NY.
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Tigers: 3B Nick Castellanos (broken left hand) began taking batting practice in Lakeland, Florida, on Saturday and could be activated off the disabled list early next week.
