Indians Confidential

Fausto Carmona knows all about having quality starts but losing none the less. He did it again on Sunday, as the A’s pitching once again shut down a shell shocked Indians offense in Oakland’s 3-1 win at Progressive Field.

The A’s have toyed with Indians bats all season, throwing two shutouts and now in this season in which they took two of three, they held the Indians to one run in the two games they won.

Sunday it was Oakland starter Vin Mazzaro topping the Tribe, he threw a season-high 7.1 innings, allowing just the one run on 7 hits with one walk and seven strikeouts.

Carmona, who was named to the AL All-Star team prior to the game, went 7 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

Indians pitching coach Tim Belcher says despite falling to 7-7 on the year, there is no doubt in his mind that Carmona deserved to make the All-Star team.

“He’s 7 and 7 now, which doesn’t sound all that impressive, but after today that’s four losses with quality starts, and three no-decisions with very quality starts,” Belcher said. “He could very easily have as many as 13 wins, but even quite conservatively should have 10-11 wins.”

The Indians offense tied the game in the third when Austin Kearns singled with two outs to score Carlos Santana, but otherwise it was a quiet day all the way around for Indians bats.

“He (Mazzaro) threw the ball pretty well today, you can’t take anything from him,” Indians CF Michael Brantley said. “He kept us off balance.”

The homestand was a success, as the team finished 5-2, but now they will face up to two months without the teams other All-Star in Shin-Soo Choo, who is out with a thumb injury.

“He’s our all-star, we know he’s been playing at an all-star level for us, and we know every year there’s going to be a few guys snubbed whether you like it or not,” Acta said of Choo not being voted on the team.

The Indians will take their show on the road before the Mid-Summer classic, as they will play in Texas starting on Monday night, then travel to take on Tampa Bay.