Written by Rich Swerbinsky

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Carmona Pitches Indians Past Tigers, Ending Three Game Slide

It's always fun getting to see the major league debut of your favorite baseball teams prized prospects.

Indians fans got treated to just that yesterday afternoon, as Fausto Carmona pitched six strong innings to lead the Tribe to a 7-2 win over the Detroit Tigers. The win put the Indians back in first place alone at a record of 7-4.

Carmona allowed just five hits and two walks in six innings, striking out four, and allowing just one run. He threw 88 pitches, and 52 of them were strikes. Through four innings, he faced just one batter above the minimum, as he made quick work of the Tigers with a crisp fastball in the mid nineties, a biting sinker, an impressive curve ball, and an effective changeup.

Carmona had some help in the 5th and 6th innings, and also got ample support from the offense.

Todd Hollandsworth, making his first start of the year, robbed a would-be two run home run from Marcus Thames in the 5th inning, going up and over the wall to bring the ball back. In the 6th inning, Carmona loaded the bases with no outs. He escaped the jam only allowing one run, thanks to a weak sac fly and a 5-4-3 inning ending double play.

Hollandsworth also had a fine day at the plate for the Indians. He had two doubles, and the second one in the 4th inning knocked in two runs, pushing the Tribe lead out to 7-0. And Travis Hafner stayed red hot, launching his 7th home run of the season in the 1st inning off Tigers starter Jeremy Bonderman, which staked the Indians to a 2-0 lead early, and effectively taking some of the pressure off Carmona in his debut.

This series with the Tigers goes through Monday, then the team goes to Baltimore for three and Kansas City for three. Cliff Lee opposes Mike Maroth in game three of the four game set this afternoon at 1:00 PM at Comerica Park in Detroit.