Cleveland Indians push win streak to eight with Carlos Carrasco shutout

DETROIT -- Is this the Cleveland baseball Cavaliers?

The Cleveland Indians certainly are looking every part of the National Basketball Association champions, even if they don't have a LeBron James-style player.

When Cleveland beat Detroit, 6-0, on Saturday with Carlos Carrasco pitching a four-hitter, it marked the Indians' eighth straight win overall and made them 8-0 against the Tigers this year.

Carrasco's third career shutout was Cleveland's third complete game in four games.

"The only reason I didn't throw a complete game Friday was I wanted to give the guys in the bullpen some work," Danny Salazar barked as he walked to the shower.

Said Detroit manager Brad Ausmus: "They obviously want to be celebrating run scoring, but when you come up against good pitching -- and you can say we're not swinging the bats, but this was good pitching.

"For 125 years, good pitching trumps good hitting, as simple as that. Carrasco was good."

Added Cleveland manager Terry Francona: "As (Carrasco) got into the game, one, it got hard to see, It's nice to have the lead. And he really got comfortable.

"He started fastball, breaking ball, he kind of went back and forth, (mixed in) changeups. Against their lineup, the way they're swinging it, that was really an impressive effort."

Francisco Lindor hit two home runs for the first time in his two-year career. while Carlos Santana and Yan Gomes logged one each for the Indians.

Carrasco (3-2) had only two Detroit runners get as far as second base -- on doubles in the first and fifth innings -- as he struck out seven and walked only one. Carrasco threw 117 pitches.

"His game is such a confidence thing," catcher Gomes said. "When he comes out, his last outing, he pitched well but he started getting confidence on all his pitches.

"This time, right from the get-go he was throwing 92-93 mph splits. Either I'm going to have a tough time catching it or they're going to have a tough time hitting it."

Carrasco said: "I sat those two runs in the first inning and said, 'OK, I need to do my job. Put zeroes on the board.'"

Anibal Sanchez (4-8) made his first start since being sent to the bullpen after his May 31 start in Los Angeles against the Angels and got off to a rocky start before settling in and retiring the last eight batters he faced.

Sanchez gave up four runs in the first three innings. He walked two, struck out three and gave up five hits. He is one of three pitchers vying for two spots in the mixed bag that is Detroit's rotation.

Cleveland jumped on Sanchez right away, getting two solo home runs in the first en route to a 4-0 lead.

Santana whacked a hanging 0-1 slider for his 16th home run of the season and third out of the leadoff spot. Two batters later, Lindor ambushed a flat 2-and-1 spitter for his ninth home run.

"Obviously the home runs early you never want to see, but he did a good job of settling down, and getting out of some trouble," Ausmus said. "He gave us five innings, which was important for the bullpen, which was a little bit taxed, still."

Lindor added his second of the game and 10th this season in the eighth, a long drive to right off Mark Lowe. Lowe also gave up Gomes' home run, his eighth, with one out in the ninth.

Tyler Naquin doubled with two out in the second and scored on a single to right by Rajai Davis for a 3-0 Indians lead. Cleveland made it 4-0 in the third, loading the bases with two walks plus a single and scoring on a fielder's choice groundout to short by Jose Ramirez.

Indians third baseman Jose Ramirez made six straight assists on ground balls in the fifth and sixth innings, eight for the game.

NOTES: Indians C Yan Gomes returned to the starting lineup Saturday after missing two games because of a cyst on his back. ... RF Steven Moya of Detroit sat out the game with right knee soreness. He was replaced by UT Mike Aviles. ... Cleveland's last winning streak against Detroit longer than seven games from the start of a season was a 12-0 season in 1996. ... The final score of Friday night's game was changed from 7-4 to 7-5 when Elias Sports Bureau informed MLB that Tigers' 2B Ian Kinsler scored prior to the final out of a double play that ended the game. It was determined the Indians failed to appeal on the play.