CLEVELAND _ It's difficult to find something nice to say about the Baltimore Orioles these days.
So, perhaps as expected, starter Carlos Carrasco delivered a strong outing and Jose Ramirez belted his 37th home run of the season to lift the Indians to a 2-1 win over the Orioles Friday night at Progressive Field.
Following the trade of superstar Manny Machado to the Los Angeles Dodgers and Adam Jones' recent placement on the bereavement list, the Orioles lineup can be considered cringe-worthy.
Carrasco had little trouble carving it up. He was dominant all night, only running into trouble once. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth inning, before Carrasco struck out Joey Rickard to end the threat.
Carrasco (15-6) allowed just three hits and a walk to go with six strikeouts in seven scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 3.33.
Ramirez, meanwhile, provided all the scoring the Indians (70-51) needed with one swing and further cemented his position as one of the most dangerous hitters in the game, particularly in the first inning. Facing Orioles starter David Hess (2-7) with a runner on first after Michael Brantley walked with one out, Ramirez launched a two-run home run down the right-field line.
That put Ramirez into a tie with the Boston Red Sox's J.D. Martinez in the AL home run race, and upped his MLB-leading fWAR to 8.3 fWAR, just ahead of the Red Sox's Mookie Betts (8.0). Ramirez's fWAR is already tied for the 11th-best season in Indians history among position players, tying Lou Boudreau in 1944.
Los Angeles Angels superstar Mike Trout is third among position players with 7.6 fWAR, and Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor is fourth at 6.6. No other position players are within a full run of those four.
Ramirez's blast was his 13th in the first inning this season, the most in baseball.
The Orioles (36-86) cut the deficit in half in the eighth with Carrasco out of the game. Andrew Miller walked the first batter he faced, Caleb Joseph, before retiring the next two. Adam Cimber entered and, with Joseph on second base, Trey Mancini singled to make it a one-run game.
In the ninth, Cody Allen walked Renato Nunez with one out to put the tying run on base. Craig Gentry entered as a pinch runner and stole second, but Allen retired Tim Beckham and Rickard to record his 24th save of the season.
