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As I said in the open thread, this looked like a pitching mismatch in the Indians favor.

And as I feared, it didn’t turn out that way.

You could sense it was going to be “one of those days” immediately. If Rajai Davis hasn’t been enough of a thorn in our side following the Yan Gomes injury, he set the the tone with a leadoff triple. Today, Davis would be exactly one of the things that the Indians so desperately need: an offensive terror. Davis had three hits and three runs scored, and I found myself feeling sorry for all of us having to see a ninth-hole-batting Michael Bourn’s continued decay accelerated right before our very eyes. Davis is the engine that makes the Tigers’ lineup hum. It’s uncanny, frustrating, and seemingly unstoppable if he gets on.

Carlos Carrasco (4.1 INN/9 H/5 ER/5 SO/2 BB) wasn’t nearly as sharp as we’ve grown accustomed to. He was under siege from the word go and never found his groove. Tigers’ lefty Kyle Lobstein (7 INN/6 H/3 ER/4 SO/2 BB) was a typical crafty lefty. When the Tribe looked as if they were about to threaten, he managed to coax the right pitch at the right time to escape the crippling blow.

Instead, Miguel Cabrera flipped the eventual game-winner to right off of Scott Atcheson. Cody Allen’s struggles continued as he gave up two more runs in the eigth. David Murphy would give the Tribe a ray of hope by homering off of closer Joakim Soria, but that was as far as they would get.

Basically, this game was the quintessential “Pulling Teeth Game.” The carrot was always an inch or two out of the reach. Pretty much the story of April.

W: Kyle Lobstein (2-1); L: Carlos Carrasco (2-2); S: Soria (7)

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