Preview: After Tuesday's Debacle the Indians Look to Salvage the Finale Against the Reds Tonight

CLEVELAND - The Indians enjoyed what looked to be a easy win on Tuesday night, sliding into the 9th inning with a 4-0 lead and their closer on the mound who had

CLEVELAND - The Indians enjoyed what looked to be a easy win on Tuesday night, sliding into the 9th inning with a 4-0 lead and their closer on the mound who had just one blown save all year.

Also the Indians had not blown a four-run lead in the 9th inning in some 11 seasons, meaning it was all in the bag they were on their way to breaking their three-game losing streak.

Then, all you know what broke loose.

Closer Cody Allen threw 31 pitches, including a full-count walk to a hitter with a .000 average this season, and then in a wild turn of events, manager Terry Francona and pitching coach Carl Willis somehow put the wrong reliever on the mound - turning to righty Dan Otero instead of lefty Oliver Perez.

The result was a stunning 7-4 loss that easily could go down as one of, if not the worst regular season loss in the Francona era.

The beauty of baseball though is there's another game tonight, and the Indians will turn to Carlos Carrasco, the last pitcher to get them a win last Friday, as they look to salvage the finale of the three-game set.

Here's a look at tonight's game with a quick preview.

Time: 7:10 p.m.

Starting Pitchers: RHP Tyler Mahle (7-6, 3.66) vs. RHP Carlos Carrasco (9-5, 4.28)

TV: SportsTime Ohio

Online: MLB.TV

Radio: WTAM 1100am, Indians Radio Network

1. More on Mahle

Cincinnati starter Tyler Mahle will take the bump tonight for the Reds, coming in with a mark of 7-6 with a solid 3.66 ERA.

He's been on a role as of late, not losing a game in nearly two months (May 20th) and has won four straight since then with three no-decisions in between.

In his last start he went 6.2 innings allowing a single run on five hits as the Reds topped the Cubs 7-6. Mahle is known mostly for his fastball, slider and change-up.

His fastball is interesting in that he throws throws different versions of the pitch. When he is working in the low 90’s, the pitch shows good movement, and at times can reach the mid 90's, something he's done effectively this season.

Tonight will be his first career start against the Indians.

2. Cookie Looking to Make the Reds Crumble

Carlos Carrasco made his return to the rotation on Friday, and while the A's got off to a good start with a 2-0 lead, 'Cookie' settled down and the offense came around in a 10-4 win.

Against Oakland in his first start since coming off the DL he went 5.1 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits with seven K's, and gave up two homers.

“Early on, a couple fastballs got hit, but he kept it in check,” manager Terry Francona said after Carrasco's outing on Friday.

“He really found his breaking ball. There was a couple innings there where he threw six, seven, eight in a row, but they were so good.”

He had a start against the Reds last season in Cincy on May 23rd, and 6.1 innings, allowing four runs on five hits in a Tribe 8-7 win.

He'll look to put the Tribe in the win column for the first time since his last start Friday night.

3. Let it Go

Last night was by in large a baseball disaster and a perfect storm for the Indians to have one of their worst home loses that anyone can recall.

Monday wasn't much better as Josh Tomlin, who since has been placed on the 10-day DL, gave up his 21st homer of the year in the 9th and the teams' comeback fell short in a 7-5 loss.

One good thing about the Indians under Francona is the ability to put tough losses aside and get back on the field the next day, something they should do tonight.

It doesn't mean anything in terms of a guaranteed win, but if they do fall it won't be because they are looking back to the last few days of failure.