Carrasco, Santana help Indians to win

OAKLAND — It was one of those cool nights at the Coliseum on Monday, when one run might just be enough to win. The Indians put that to the test, using a home run by Carlos Santana and a strong outing by Carlos Carrasco to pull off a 1-0 victory to overcome a solid start by A’s rookie Andrew Triggs.

“Both teams really pitched well,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “We hit a few balls hard, but not a lot. Fortunately, [Santana] ran one out of there, because it looked like that was probably the way someone was going to have to score.”

Powered by eight dominant innings from Carrasco, the American League Central-leading Indians pushed their lead over Detroit to 7 1/2 games in the division, matching a season-best margin. The big right-hander struck out nine, scattered four hits and issued no walks en route to his ninth win of the year.

Lefty Andrew Miller shut the door in the ninth, striking out the side on 13 pitches to collect his second save since joining Cleveland.

“He was awesome,” Miller said of Carrasco. “That’s as good as you can throw the ball. I know you need a couple things to go your way, but that was no-hit stuff. That was a lot of fun to watch.”

Oakland’s silver lining came courtesy of Triggs, who notched career highs in innings (six) and pitches (89), while quieting a stout Cleveland lineup. The Indians’ lone breakthrough did not arrive until the eighth inning, when Santana launched his shot to the right-field stands against reliever Ryan Dull.

MOMENTS THAT MATTEREDSantana ends the deadlock: With one out in the eighth inning, Santana pulled a 1-1 fastball from reliever Ryan Dull down the right-field line. Cleveland’s first baseman stayed put, leaning over the plate as he watched the ball, waiting to see if it stayed fair. It did, giving him 27 home runs to equal a single-season career best (done three times). The solo blast came with an exit velocity of 108 mph, per Statcast™.

“It was in-between. Is it foul? Will it stay fair?” Santana said. “It was fair. That happened, I got a home run and we won the game. It felt great, especially because [Carrasco] threw eight innings. He had a good slider tonight and the fastball inside. He threw well. It was a good job.”

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