Friday night’s game had all the makings of a pitcher’s duel through 4 innings. Jake Faria and Carlos Carrasco each retired the 1st 12 batters they faced. Everything changed in the 5th inning. Cleveland’s bats came alive and scored 5 while the Rays continued to struggle. Logan Morrison would end Carrasco’s no-hit bid in the 7th inning, but couldn’t muster a comeback and fell to the Indians by that 5-0 score.
After Faria retired the Indians in order through those 1st four innings, the Tribe would end up batting around in the 5th. Edwin Encarnacion would be the 1st and last batter he faced in the inning. Encarnacion led off the inning with a homerun to straight away center field for the 1-0 lead. Jose Ramirez capped off the scoring with an RBI double. The rookie calmed down and got through the next inning, but the damage was already done.
The Rays best chance at a comeback in the 7th. After Morrison singled to end the no-hitter Steven Souza worked a walk to bring up Brad Miller. The lefty just missed a homerun on a 1st pitch foul ball. Miller would eventually go down on strikes to end the rally. Carrasco’s night ended after 8 innings of 10 strikeout, 2-hit ball.
The Rays will continue this 4-game set against the defending American League champions on Saturday night. Chris Archer will head to the mound for Tampa Bay to face the right handed Mike Clevinger for Cleveland. 1st pitch is scheduled for 6:10 pm with coverage beginning right here on 620 WDAE at 5 with Steve Carney and the Inside Pitch.