Carrasco and the Pen Do Enough; Indians Top Tigers 3-2 - Three Takeaways From the Win

The Indians entered Wednesday night with just one win against the rival Detroit Tigers, but gave the ball to the player who has been their best pitcher thus far

The Indians entered Wednesday night with just one win against the rival Detroit Tigers, but gave the ball to the player who has been their best pitcher thus far in 2017, Carlos Carrasco.

The result was a well-played 3-2 win, with Carrasco doing his part going six innings, and then giving it over to the best bullpen in the American League, with the twosome of Andrew Miller and Cody Allen finishing off the win.

The Indians have a shot on Thursday to walk out of Comerica Park with their third win against four losses against Detroit, but mother nature might have her say as steady rain is expected for the 1:10pm start.

For now, the Indians are back on track with the one-run win, and here's our three takeaways from the Wednesday win with Carrasco improving to 3-2.

1. Carrasco Sets the Tone

While there's no denying that Corey Kluber remains the ace of the Indians rotation, right now Carlos Carrasco has proven to be the best of the five starting pitchers on the team's roster thus far in 2017.

Carrasco proved it again on Wednesday, holding the Tigers, who jumped on Trevor Bauer and Kluber the last two nights, to two runs and five hits in six innings before allowing the pen to come in and do their job.

The Tribe starter walked one and struck out five, and threw 91 pitches, 60 of which were strikes, before Terry Francona decided to go with his two studs from the pen, Andrew Miller and Cody Allen.

It paid off, as Carrasco earned his 3rd win of the season against two losses. His ERA sits at 2.18, best of the five starters on the Tribe roster.

He will be back on the mound against the Blue Jays on Monday in Toronto.

2. Pen Power

The blueprint for winning for the Indians always seems to include the combination of two players out of the bullpen, Andrew Miller and Cody Allen.

That was the winning formula on Wednesday night, as the pair combined for three innings, two by Miller and one by Allen, and they gave up one hit with two walks and six strikeouts, four by Miller.

As seen last season in the postseason, Terry Francona won't be shy about allowing these two solid arms out of the pen to throw three innings, and that was exactly what helped in the one-run win over Detroit.

Miller has a 0.00 ERA to this point, and Allen's ERA is down to 0.82, as he collected his 7th save of the season, just hours after being named the American League Reliever of the Month for April.

3. Offense Does Just Enough

The Indians offense, after scoring one and two runs the last two nights, were able to manage three on Wednesday, but it was enough for the one-run win to break the two-game losing streak.

All of the Indians runs came in the 4th, with the big blow a Jose Ramírez triple to deep right, scoring Francisco Lindor and Michael Brantley.

Following that Jason Kipnis hit a sac fly that scored another run to give the Indians a 3-0 lead, and it was good enough to hold up with the solid outing from Carrasco and the pen.

It was good for the offense to finally give the pitchers a lead, and even better as they made it hold up for the Tribe's 15th win against 12 losses.