Carrasco Hammered Again in Loss to Texas

In the first game of a double-header, Carlos Carrasco (0-1) was lit up for five runs in five innings against Texas. The Rangers improved to 77-60 prior to tonight’s game…which also seems like a victory as of now. Cleveland remains 4th in the division, ahead of only the lowly Kansas City Royals…who have decided to keep Trey Hillman on as skipper for 2010. Hopefully that will make Cleveland think twice about the Eric Wedge situation.

Carrasco gave up bombs to David Murphy and Julio Borbon, spotting Texas a 2-0 lead. Murphy plated Ian Kinsler in the 4th inning off of a fielder’s choice, and Ivan Rodriguez followed suit with an RBI double. An Elvis Andrus RBI double in the 5th was the last run scored off of Carrasco, who did not get the loss thanks to hot Cleveland hitting.

The Cleveland rally was sparked by an Asdrubal Cabrera 2-run double in the 5th, and a Michael Brantley 2-run double in the 6th.

Marlon Byrd quickly broke a 5-5 tie in the 7th inning with a 3-run home run to deep left center field. Byrd was 4-for-4 on the night with the key blast off of Chris Perez.

Travis Hafner hit a two-run shot to right center cutting into the lead, and Shin-Soo Choo’s RBI single in the 8th cut the defecit to one run at 8-7. However, Jess Todd couldn’t get the job done in the late innings. Todd entered the game with a 9.75 ERA, 11 strikeouts, 5 walks, and 1 loss in 11 appearances. This extended appearance proved to be too much for Todd, who gave up Julio Borbon’s second home run of the night, followed by Ivan Rodriguez’s ground rule double that scored Byrd and Nelson Cruz.

The Indians responded with Matt LaPorta’s 2-run homer in the 9th, but couldn’t muster up anything else. LaPorta’s 4th home run of the season brought the Indians within 2 (11-9), before Frank Francisco shut the door for good.

The nightcap still doesn’t look good for the Tribe, as Texas currently leads 7-1. What else is new…?