Tribe stunned by late runs in loss to White Sox

CLEVELAND -- After getting swept by the Rays at Tropicana Field over the weekend, handing them first place in the American League Wild Card race, there’s nothing more that the Indians needed than a four-game set against a sub-.500 team.

The Indians snapped their three-game losing streak by scoring 11 runs in the series opener against the White Sox on Monday, which was one more run than their previous four games combined. But just when it looked like Roberto Perez would be Tuesday night’s hero with a go-ahead homer in the seventh, the Tribe coughed up a three-run lead to take a 6-5 loss to Chicago at Progressive Field, falling back one game behind the Rays for the top spot in the AL Wild Card chase while tied with the A's for the second Wild Card spot.

“That was what we thought was hopefully a game-winning hit, it’s exciting,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “We’ve got to nail down games like that.”

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With the Twins' 6-5 victory over the Red Sox, the Indians also dropped to 6 1/2 games back in the AL Central, making the dream of becoming the division champs harder and harder to attain. Although it may be difficult, it’s not completely off the table with six games remaining between the two division rivals in the final four weeks of the regular season, including a three-game series that begins on Friday in Minnesota.

If the season ended today, the Indians would play the A's in a tiebreaker game for a chance to face the Rays in the AL Wild Card Game at Tropicana Field, and one of the top contenders to get the ball for the Tribe for either game would be the AL Pitcher of the Month for August, Mike Clevinger.

Clevinger gave his team a solid seven frames Tuesday night, allowing two runs on two hits -- one homer -- with nine strikeouts. The right-hander got some early run support from Francisco Lindor’s 18th career leadoff homer, which tied Kenny Lofton for second-most in club history (Grady Sizemore, 22). Perez singled in a run in the fifth and, with the game tied at 2, launched a three-run blast to give Carlos Carrasco a decent lead heading into the eighth.

“Really good except for a couple hanging breaking balls,” Francona said of Clevinger. “It’s not as easy as that, but we threw three breaking balls tonight that cost us five runs -- to the wrong guys. I thought Clev was terrific other than that.”

But in Carrasco’s first appearance at Progressive Field since being diagnosed with leukemia in June, he gave up back-to-back homers to James McCann -- a three-run blast -- and Eloy Jimenez to give the White Sox a 6-5 lead.

“What happened was, I made a mistake,” Carrasco said. “The two homers, it was a hanging slider. That’s what happened. That’s what cost us the game right there.”

“Just looking for something elevated to drive,” McCann said. “Honestly, Clevinger threw really well and mixed fastball-slider all night long. Facing Carrasco, a little bit different type of a pitcher, knowing he has a two-seamer along with a four-seamer and a slider. I was looking for something elevated that I could put a good swing on and it happened to be a slider.”

The victory allowed Chicago to avoid its first eight-game losing skid since June of last season. It was just the Indians' fourth loss of the season in the 71 games in which they’ve led after seven innings (67-4). And while it was Carrasco who took the loss in just his second appearance back from the injured list, Francona was not concerned about his reliever moving forward.

“He’s done it before,” Francona said. “He’ll be OK.”