Indians Split Doubleheader with White Sox

It’s not exactly new, but it’s certainly improved, and it helped Fausto Carmona stick around for six innings, long enough for the Indians to beat the Chicago White Sox 4-3 in the first game of Tuesday’s day-night makeup doubleheader at Progressive Field.

In the second game, Zach McAllister improved on his earlier big-league starts, but the bullpen failed as the Tribe fell 5-4 yet kept its 1›-game lead over the Sox in the tepid battle for second place in the Central Division.

Manager Manny Acta made a point of explaining that Carmona’s change-up played a vital part in keeping White Sox batsmen off balance.

“Being able to keep his composure when he had those runners on third was important,” Acta said. “And his change-up was very effective against both right-handed batters and lefties.”

Carmona (7-15, 5.23 ERA) has had a change-up in his arsenal for some time, but he preferred to throw a slider when he went away from his two-seam and four-seam fastballs.

“He has a better feel for the change-up now,” Acta said. “He discovered early in the year that the change-up was better for him than the slider. He had struggled with the separation between his fastball and slider.”

In other words, Carmona threw his slider almost as hard as he delivered fastballs and needed something to wreck the timing of opposing batters.

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