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Carlos Carrasco of the Cleveland Indians lost a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth inning on Wednesday night, but led Cleveland to an 8-1 road win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Joey Butler singled to right center field with two outs in the ninth inning, scoring Asdrubal Cabrera, who walked to open the inning.
Carlos Carrasco came SO close. pic.twitter.com/hI9Zm0DYFV
— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) July 2, 2015
The 28-year-old Carrasco struck out a career-high 13 batters and threw a career-high 124 pitches, walking two batters in the win.
Austin Adams recorded the final out for Cleveland to complete the Indians' third-straight win.
Carrasco retired the first 19 batters he faced before issuing a walk to Butler with one out in the seventh inning. But Carrasco was able to rebound thanks to a double-play ground ball by Evan Longoria, the next batter, to preserve the no-hitter.
The Indians haven't had a no-hitter since Len Barker threw a perfect game to beat the Toronto Blue Jays on May 15, 1981.
It has been one heck of a pitching series for the Indians against the Rays. On Monday, Cody Anderson — in just his second major league start — retired the first 19 batters faced en route to a 7-1 win. On Tuesday, Danny Salazar retired the first 15 Rays until allowing a walk and a double in the sixth inning. Salazar allowed two runs (one earned) in 7⅔ innings in the Cleveland win.
On May 13 vs. St. Louis, Indians ace Corey Kluber lost a no-hitter with two outs in the seventh inning but settled for a dominant 18-strikeout performance over eight innings. Indians starters lead the majors with a 25-percent strikeout rate in 2015.
In his last eight starts Carrasco is 6-2 with a 3.00 ERA, with 59 strikeouts and 11 walks in 54 innings, and six quality starts during that span.