Published November 20, 2014
CLEVELAND (AP) — Fausto Carmona rebounded from his worst start of the season by pitching into the seventh inning and the Cleveland Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 on Tuesday night.
Carmona (7-6) gave up four runs — three earned — and six hits over 6 1-3 innings to help the Indians to their first three-game winning streak since a four-game run June 9-12. Cleveland followed that modest streak by losing 10 of 11 until winning Sunday in Cincinnati.
Kerry Wood worked the ninth for his third save in three games and eighth in 11 chances overall. He hit Jose Molina with a pitch to open the inning, then struck out pinch-hitter John Buck and got Fred Lewis to hit into a game-ending double play.
Blue Jays starter Brandon Morrow (5-6) struck out eight over six innings and Adam Lind broke out of a 1-for-17 slump with a two-run single for Toronto, which has lost seven of nine.
Matt LaPorta hit a one-out homer 422 feet into the bleachers in left-center to put Cleveland ahead 5-2 in the sixth. It was LaPorta's second homer of the season and first since he was recalled from Triple-A Columbus on Sunday.
The Blue Jays got within 5-4, scoring two gift-wrapped runs after Carmona left with one out in the seventh.
A wild pitch by reliever Tony Sipp sent one run home. Joe Smith replaced Sipp with runners on first and third and two outs. He got Jose Bautista to lift a fly ball to short right. Shin-Soo Choo called off second baseman Jayson Nix, but had the ball go off the heel of his glove for a run-scoring error that got Toronto within 5-4.
The Indians took a 2-0 lead with two unearned runs in the first. Carlos Santana hit a two-out single and went to third on a double by Travis Hafner. Jhonny Peralta then hit an easy bouncer to third baseman John McDonald, whose low throw skipped past first baseman Lyle Overbay, allowing both runners to score.
Choo singled home a run in the second and Hafner made it 4-0 with an RBI double in the fifth.
Lind's two-out, two-run single in the sixth got the Blue Jays within 5-2.
Morrow had been 2-1 with a 1.32 ERA in his previous five starts with Molina as his catcher. The combination wasn't as successful against the Indians as the right-hander yielded seven hits and five runs — three earned.
Carmona improved to 3-0 in five career starts against the Blue Jays. He bounced back from allowing seven runs over four innings in a 12-3 loss at Philadelphia on Thursday.
NOTES: Cleveland SS Asdrubal Cabrera (broken left forearm) took ground balls for the first time since being injured May 17. Manager Manny Acta said the Indians hope Cabrera will return soon after the All-Star break. ... Indians INF Jason Donald (jammed left wrist) was out of the lineup for the fourth straight game. ... Overbay was 0 for 1 with two walks off Carmona and is hitting .083 (1 of 12) in his career against the right-hander. ... LF Shelley Duncan had three of the Indians' 11 strikeouts.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/indians-carmona-bounces-back-to-beat-jays-5-4