Jose Ramirez struck out in his final at-bat in the ninth inning of Friday night’s game, but was responsible for the Indians’ lone run after a solo homer in the fourth inning.
I had a pretty crummy day on Friday, the kind of day where you just want to relax in front of the television and let baseball distract you from your problems. Instead, it became one of those games where I took my frustrations out on the team…in particular, the Indians’ inability to put anything together at the plate against the Mariners pitching. It became somewhat cathartic to scream at Edwin Encarnacion as he swung at pitches so far outside they were in the other batter’s box. Innings that went by so quickly, I’d leave the room for what seemed like seconds, only to find that the Indians hitters had already managed three outs. It seemed fitting when pinch-hitter Lonnie Chisenhall struck out to end the game on this pitch:
While I don’t want to take away from the Mariners pitchers, it seemed pretty bleak that the Indians’ first hit didn’t come until the fourth inning, when Jose Ramirez hit a solo home run to put the Indians on the board. They managed just one additional hit against Ariel Miranda, and just two more against the Seattle bullpen. Two of the four hits came from Francisco Lindor.
Carlos Carrasco had a solid outing, allowing 3 ER on 6 hits over the course of 8 innings, walking none and striking out 7. He was burned by 2 home runs; a two-run shot by Robinson Cano in the fourth inning, and a solo shot by Ben Gamel in the sixth inning. Essentially two mistakes cost him, since the Indians hitters were having so much trouble with the Mariners’ pitchers. Dan Otero pitched a perfect inning in relief.
I guess the one compliment I have for this game is that it was fast, just 2 hours, 36 minutes. It was miserable and rainy, so if they were going to lose, at least they did it quickly. The Indians will try to turn it around on Saturday against Yovani Gallardo, as Danny Salazar takes the mound for the Tribe.