Indians finish sweep of Mariners
The Cleveland Indians won their third straight game and completed their three-game sweep of the Mariners on the road in Seattle.
The Cleveland Indians won a close game Wednesday, a 1-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners. Carlos Carrasco and Nick Wittgren shut down the homer happy Mariners as Cleveland finished off the sweep.
Carlos Carrasco got the start and rebounded nicely after failing to get out of the first inning in his last start. Carrasco struck out 12 over seven innings and only allowed three hits. There was a brief moment when it appeared that Seattle would continue their record home run streak, but alas it was not meant to be. What was thought to be a Ryon Healy home run was determined to be foul and Carrasco would strike him out looking on the very next pitch.
Nick Wittgren got the old school two-inning save Wednesday. Wittgren pitched both the eighth and ninth innings to close the game. Wittgren would strike out two batters and not allow a hit in two innings of work. The regular closer Brad Hand got the night off due to pitching in three consecutive games previously.
The Indians only mustered one run but that was all they needed. Jake Bauers hit a solo home run in the top of the fifth inning to put Cleveland on top. Bauers would get two of the Tribe’s three hits on the day, the other coming off the bat of Carlos Gonzalez.
While the offense did not light up the scoreboard, they did just enough to win the game. Sometimes that is how it is going to go. The offense will struggle and the pitching will have to carry the team to victory. Luckily the combination of Carrasco and Wittgren shut down Seattle to secure the victory. It was not pretty, but a win is a win.
