Urshela's HR in 12th saves Carrasco's gem
ANAHEIM -- Giovanny Urshela lined a two-out, two-run homer off Angels reliever Cam Bedrosian in the 12th inning Tuesday night, ending a scoreless tie and sending the Indians to a 2-0 victory at Angel Stadium.
"That felt great," Urshela said of his go-ahead blast. "That felt good to help the team win."
After throwing back-to-back scoreless innings, Angels reliever Jose Alvarez began the 12th by giving up a single to Lonnie Chisenhall, prompting Mike Scioscia to turn to Bedrosian. The 23-year-old right-hander retired the first two batters, then left a 1-0 slider out over the plate, which Urshela sent over the short fence along the left-field line for his fourth home run in 166 plate appearances this season.
"Just not a good throw -- middle-middle, maybe," Bedrosian said. "I just tried to get the strike on him and made a mistake and he hit it."
Cody Allen recorded the save, snapping the Indians' three-game losing streak and handing the Angels their 10th loss in the last 12 games. Tuesday marked the first time since Aug. 11, 1942, that the Indians pitched 12 scoreless innings with no more than two hits allowed.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Second straight gem: Carlos Carrasco didn't give up a hit in the first four frames and pitched nine scoreless innings, allowing three baserunners, five days after throwing nine innings of one-run ball in Oakland. Carrasco's opponent, Matt Shoemaker, extended his scoreless-innings streak to 19 by keeping the Indians off the board through six frames. More >
"[Carrasco] established a real good fastball early," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "Off of that, his breaking balls had really good depth to them. He pitched ahead. He pitched his tail off. It was fun to watch."
Video: CLE@LAA: Carrasco pitches nine frames of one-hit ball
Old friend, new foe: Angels outfielder David Murphy (acquired in a trade with the Indians last week) sliced a no-doubt single to left-center to begin the home half of the fifth inning. Prior to that hit, Carrasco had spun 12 consecutive no-hit innings and had held batters to an 0-for-38 showing, dating back to his previous start.
"After facing him tonight, I can't believe he has a 4.00 ERA," Murphy said. "I remember when I faced him before seeing his fastball a little bit longer. I feel like his fastball kind of jumped out of nowhere. Obviously he had great velocity, good movement on it. I didn't see his slider, but the split-change that he was throwing was pretty nasty, too."
The Shoe fits: Shoemaker scattered five hits, walked two and struck out a career-high-tying 10 batters while notching his third consecutive scoreless outing. The 28-year-old right-hander is the first Angels pitcher with three straight scoreless outings of at least six innings since Shoemaker did it himself last August. Since June 26, Shoemaker has a 1.69 ERA.
"I'm just trying to stay focused," Shoemaker said, "keep getting better each start, each bullpen in between starts, just keep going from there."
Video: CLE@LAA: Shoemaker fans 10 Indians over six scoreless
Locked when loaded: In the fifth, Jerry Sands and Michael Bourn came through with consecutive one-out singles against Shoemaker, who later issued a two-out walk to Ramirez to load the bases. Rookie shortstop Francisco Lindor followed with a rally-ending strikeout, dropping Cleveland's average to .127 (10-for-79) with the bases loaded this year.
Coming up short: The Angels got only their third baserunner to lead off the ninth, when Carrasco's fastball grazed the jersey of Johnny Giavotella. The Angels' second baseman then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by pinch-hitter Shane Victorino, putting himself in scoring position for the top of the order, but David DeJesus lined out and Kole Calhoun struck out with Mike Trout on deck, sending the game to extra innings.
"That was really good," Carrasco said. "I was just trying to get that out right there. You don't want to face Trout in that situation. I got it done."
Video: CLE@LAA: Carrasco fans Calhoun to keep game tied
QUOTABLE
"When you face good pitching, you have to find a way, and we haven't been able to do that. At times this year we've faced some really good pitchers, and you have to find a way when you're facing tough pitchers who are throwing the ball as well as Carrasco is." -- Scioscia, on his inconsistent offense More >
"No, not really. He had done a good job. When they're not used to doing that, I think that would have been asking a little too much. After a guy pitched like that, if I had sent him out there, and he got a guy on, there's a chance he could get the loss. He didn't deserve that." --Francona, asked if he thought about letting Carrasco pitch the 10th inning
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Between the fourth inning of his start Thursday against the A's to the fourth on Tuesday in Anaheim, Carrasco retired 27 consecutive batters (the equivalent of a perfect game). That tied Dennis Eckersley (1977), Greg Swindell (1991) and Jake Westbrook (2004) for the second-longest streak by a Cleveland pitcher since 1974. Only Len Barker (31 in 1981) and Bert Blyleven (31 in 1985) have longer streaks in that time period.
Carrasco also tied a unique club record with back-to-back starts consisting of at least nine innings and no more than two hits allowed. Sam McDowell accomplished the feat three times (once each in 1965, '66 and '70) and Early Wynn also achieved the feat in 1954.
Shoemaker, meanwhile, became the first Angels starter with a no-decision in back-to-back starts of throwing at least six scoreless innings since Nolan Ryan in 1978.
WHAT'S NEXT
Indians: Hard-throwing right-hander Danny Salazar (9-6, 3.47 ERA) will toe the rubber for the Tribe in the finale of this three-game set at 3:35 p.m. ET on Wednesday at Angel Stadium. On Friday in Oakland, Salazar held the A's to one hit over eight innings, lowering his ERA to 1.53 over his past four outings (29 1/3 innings) for Cleveland.
Angels: Hector Santiago (7-5, 2.70 ERA) will oppose Salazar in hopes of getting back on track. The 27-year-old left-hander has given up a combined nine runs (eight earned) on 14 hits and four walks in his last two starts against the Rangers and Dodgers, lasting only five innings each time.
Watch every out-of-market regular season game live on MLB.TV.