Carrasco Strikes Out Seven, Indians Defeat Twins 8-1; Three Takeaways From The Victory

The bats were alive and well in Minnesota, as the Cleveland Indians took it to the Twins at Target Field. The Tribe defeated Minnesota by a final score of 8-1

The bats were alive and well in Minnesota, as the Cleveland Indians took it to the Twins at Target Field. The Tribe defeated Minnesota by a final score of 8-1 behind Carlos Carrasco's strong outing and plenty of run support to back the arms.

There was a lot to break down, so let's take a look with our three takeaways from tonight's game.

1. Cookie Conquers- The Indians benfited from a very good outing from starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco tonight, who is in his flow at this point in the season. Carrasco was marvelous, allowing only one earned run in 6.1 innings pitched. Striking out seven batters while only alllowing four hits and three walks, Cookie was masterful and helped the Tribe win a very important game to start off this battle for first-place in the Central Division.

2. Walk That Parrot, Edwin- Designated Hitter Edwin Encarnacion had a lot of expectations to live up to coming into Cleveland this year, his big bat making Tribe fans jump for joy following the big off-season signing. And after what was a rough start to the season for EE, Encarnacion has hit his stride. Encarnacion currently has 14 home runs on the season, four of them in the first sixteen days of June. It's an exciting sight to see if you're an Indians fan and definitely means good things are coming.

3. Paying Homage To Prince- The Twins did a really good job honoring the late legend, donning special warm-up shirts, trotting up to his music for at-bat and even gifting fans with special purple umbrellas with the album cover on it. During the seventh inning stretch, all of the fans opened up their umbrellas and showed respect to Prince, making everyone smile and maybe even shed a tear in remembrance of an icon.