CLEVELAND -- Carlos Carrasco pitched well enough to win. He also worked long enough to save the Indians' bullpen from extended duty.
The right-hander struck out seven over eight innings Friday, but allowed two home runs that were the difference as the Mariners beat the Indians, 3-1. Robinson Cano's two-run homer in the fourth and Ben Gamel's solo shot in the sixth were the only blemishes in Carrasco's 106-pitch outing at Progressive Field.
He did not issue a walk and limited Seattle to six hits.
"That's what we want to do, to go deep in games and try to put some zeros on the board," he said. "I threw a little bit up on Cano, but I was happy outside of that. I know the best way against him is to attack, like I did in his first and third at-bat. The home run was just one bad pitch in a bad spot."
Carrasco became the first Indians pitcher to lose a start of eight-or-more innings since Josh Tomlin against Kansas City on September 15, 2015. He posted his 10th career game of seven-plus strikeouts and zero walks.
"Cookie" also went eight innings in his previous outing, collecting eight strikeouts in a 7-0 road win over the White Sox on April 22. He has pitched into the sixth in all five of his starts this season, walking no more than one batter in three of them. Despite those impressive numbers, Carrasco has a 2-2 record because the Indians have only scored 12 runs with him on the mound. His ERA is a paltry 2.04 and his strikeout-to-walk ratio is 4.86:1.
"He's throwing great and I'm very proud of him," Cleveland first baseman Carlos Santana said. "We know how hard it was for him to miss the playoffs, and he's come back and is finishing every game strong. He's been doing great."
Carrasco ranked 10th in the American League with a 3.32 ERA when he suffered a season-ending broken right hand last September 17. It forced him to be a spectator when the Indians lost Game 7 of the World Series to the Chicago Cubs.
The 30-year-old hurler admitted having doubts in the offseason, given the injury was to his pitching hand, but those have dissipated over the past month.
"I feel great, I have a different feeling from Spring Training when we started," Carrasco said. "I'm happy with the way everything is going. I want to do everything I can to help this team win."