Carlos Carrasco 1-hits Kansas City Royals to keep Cleveland Indians in hunt

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Carlos Carrasco was on top of his game, and that was enough to bury the Kansas City Royals.

Carrasco threw a one-hitter, and the Cleveland Indians hit three home runs to beat the Royals 6-0 Friday night.

"He threw his fastball, threw it down with life, threw his breaking ball off of it, not a lot of deep counts, worked ahead," Indians manager Terry Francona said of Carrasco's outing. "That was good.

"We scored early and he took advantage. Obviously that's not their 'A' lineup, and we know that but he still threw the ball very well."

Right fielder Alex Rios' seventh-inning single with one out was the lone Kansas City hit. Rios was 1-for-16 off Carrasco before that clean hit to center. Catcher Roberto Perez called for a slider, but Carrasco shook him off and went with a fastball.

"On the previous pitch it was a slider, and he swung," Perez said. "He's a good hitter. I was thinking then I wanted the no-hitter, but, you know, he put a good swing on a fastball inside and unfortunately he got the base hit."

Carrasco (14-11) struck out a career-high 15 and walked two to pick up the complete-game victory.

Carrasco, who is 4-0 with a 1.55 ERA against the Royals this season, threw 113 pitches, 78 for strikes. The Royals are hitting .160 off him this season.

"I saw we had five runs, and I said this is my time to do my best," Carrasco said. "We are only three games out (in wild-card race) and we have 10 games. You never know what can happen."

Right-hander Edinson Volquez (13-9) took the loss, surrendering three runs on four hits, two of them home runs, while striking out seven and walking two over six innings.

"I thought Volky's stuff was really good, too," Yost said. "He made two mistakes, one with a fastball and one with a curveball. He got his pitch count up the first three innings, but reeled it back in. We could have sent him back out in the seventh inning. His pitch count was 101 pitches and it didn't make much sense to do that. I thought his fastball was crisp. I thought his breaking ball had good action to it and good changeups."

But the night belonged to Carrasco.

"I don't know if he made a mistake," Royals first baseman Drew Butera said.

Yost rested most of his regulars one night after the Royals beat the Seattle Mariners 10-4 to clinch the American League Central title. The lineup included four rookies.

Third baseman Jose Ramirez was batting ninth in the initial Indians' lineup, but he was moved up to the second slot when left fielder Michael Brantley was scratched.

Ramirez responded by hitting a 2-1 Volquez pitch out to right-center in the first inning for his fifth home run, all of them on the road.

The Indians used the long ball for two more runs in the second. Designated hitter Chris Johnson walked and center fielder Abraham Perez homered to right-center on a 1-2 Volquez offering.

Meanwhile, a makeshift Royals' lineup did not have a hit until Rios' in the seventh.

Kansas City had only two base runners to that point. First baseman Drew Butera walked in the second, but was quickly erased when catcher Francisco Pena grounded into a double play

Shortstop Christian Colon drew a walk in the sixth.

Catcher Roberto Perez homered in the seventh with center fielder Abraham Almonte aboard to cap the scoring.

NOTES: LF Michael Brantley was a late scratch from the Indians' lineup, missing his third straight game with a right shoulder injury. ... The Royals' lineup looked more like the Triple-A Storm Chasers lineup as manager Ned Yost rested most of his regulars, one night after the club cinched the AL Central title. It was the Royals' first division championship since 1985, and they raised a flag proclaiming them 2015 Central champions. ... The Royals have scored 10 or more runs in five September games. They scored in double figures only six times in the first five months of the season. ... Indians RHP Josh Tomlin and Royals RHP Kris Medlen are the Saturday probables.