NEW YORK, New York — It would have been easier if Fausto Carmona simply answered the media’s questions after Friday night’s loss to the Yankees. He told Jeff Sibel, Indians manager of media relations, that he was too emotional to do so and wanted to wait until Saturday morning.

With coaching assistant Francisco Morales interpreting, Carmona met with reporters Saturday and said he didn’t intentionally hit Mark Teixeira in the second inning after giving up a homer to Curtis Granderson in the Indians 11-7 loss on Friday.

Teixeira, Yankee manager Joe Girardi and the rest of the Yankees thought he did. Both teams came onto the field with Girardi and Teixeira yelling at Carmona and Carmona challenging Teixeira to come to the mound if he was that upset.

At one point manager Manny Acta and Girardi were yelling at each other.

“It’s part of the game,” said Carmona. “I know it didn’t look good after the home run, but it’s part of the game. That’s not the last time Teixeira is going to get hit by a pitch and that’s not the lat time I’m going to miss a pitch.”

Teixeira told reporters after the game that he was yelling at Carmona, “For three years you’ve been pitching me down and away. Now you come up an in on me?”

Said Carmona, “Teixeira says I was throwing him away, so I tried to change the plan. As much as Teixeira knows me, I know him, too.”

Carmona said he was not surprised at the reactions of Teixeira and Girardi.

“I was ready for anything,” he said. “I just threw a pitch and hit him.”

Carmona answered a couple of questions about why he didn’t talk to reporters Friday and then ended the interview by saying, “I’ve got to go work.”

He allowed six runs on eight hits in four innings. He walked three and struck out two in 93 pitches. Carmona is 3-8 with a 5.71 ERA.

Dazed: Travis Buck was in the locker room Saturday morning, but it was doubtful that he would play against the Yankees. On Friday afternoon, Buck and his wife, Summar, were passengers in a New York city cab that hit another vehicle.

Buck and his wife were examined at a hospital and released, but Buck said he still had a headache and was suffering from whiplash. Summar Buck hit her head on the glass partition separating the back and front seat of the cab and was at the team hotel.

“She got it worse than me, but has been taking care of me,” said Buck.

Buck said the cab was going about 40 mph when it “T-boned a van that was making a turn in front of it.”

The Bucks said they got out of the Cab and walked back to the team hotel in Manhattan.

“The driver kept saying, “You pay now, you pay now,’” said Buck. “It was about a $5 cab ride.”

Today’s lineups:

Indians (34-27): LF Michael Brantley (L), SS Asdrubal Cabrera (S), CF Grady Sizemore, 1B Carlos Santana (S), RF Shin-Soo Choo (L), DH Matt LaPorta (R), 2B Cord Phelps (S),  3B Jack Hannahan (L), C Lou Marson, RHP Mitch Talbot (2-2, 4.18).

Yankees (34-27): SS Derek Jeter (R), CF Curtis Grandson (L), 1B Mark Teixeira (R), 3B Alex Rodriguez (R), 2B Robinson Cano (L), RF Nick Swisher (S), DH Jorge Posada (S), LF Brett Gardner (L), C Francisco Cervelli (R) and RHP Bartolo Colon (4-3, 3.39).

Him vs. me: Curtis Granderson is hitting .400 (2-for-5) with a homer against Talbot. Orlando Cabrera is 3-for-8 against Colon. Choo has a homer against him.

Umpires: H Dan Iassogna, 2B Bucknor, 3B Muchlinski, 3B Dale Scott. Scott, crew chief.

Next: RHP Josh Tomlin (7-3, 3.71) faces New York’s Freddy Garcia (4-5, 3.86) on Sunday at 1:08 p.m. Channel 3/STO will carry the game on TV. WTAM/1100 will broadcast the game on radio.

 

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Derek Holland, left, throws to Cleveland Indians’ Carlos Santana in the second inning on Saturday. (Amy Sancetta/Associated Press)

Rangers 4, Indians 0

CLEVELAND — Derek Holland tossed a five-hitter for his second career shutout and the Texas Rangers beat the Cleveland Indians on Saturday night.

Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz each hit a two-run homer as Texas won for the seventh time in eight games to improve to 15-8 since May 10. The Rangers have won 15 of the last 18 meetings against the Indians and 10 of 11 at Progressive Field.

Holland (5-1) struck out five, walked one and hit a batter in his first shutout since he threw a three-hitter in Texas’ 7-0 victory at the Los Angeles Angels on Aug. 9, 2009.

Cleveland has lost eight of 11 and a season-high five straight at home.

Red Sox 9, Athletics 8

BOSTON — J.D. Drew singled in Carl Crawford with two out in the 14th inning Saturday, lifting the Boston Red Sox to a win over the Oakland Athletics after closer Jonathan Papelbon blew a four-run lead in the ninth.

Crawford had four hits and drove in three runs and Adrian Gonzalez had a solo homer and three hits for the Red Sox, who posted their 15th win in 20 games.

Conor Jackson had a tying, pinch-hit two-run single in the ninth and a key double in the 11th as Oakland grabbed the lead, but Andrew Bailey couldn’t hold it. The Athletics lost their fifth straight.

Alfredo Aceves (3-1) pitched four innings for the win. Guillermo Moscoso (2-1) got the loss.

Oakland, which entered with the second-fewest runs in the AL, scored four times in a wild ninth against Papelbon after second baseman Dustin Pedroia booted a potential game-ending double play grounder. Catcher Jason Varitek and Papelbon were ejected by home plate umpire Tony Randazzo in the inning.

Rays 3, Mariners 2

SEATTLE — Jeremy Hellickson picked up where he left off in May, pitching neatly into the eighth inning to lead Tampa Bay to the victory.

Hellickson (7-3) allowed one run and three hits over 7 1-3 innings, improving to 6-1 with a 1.74 earned-run average in his last seven starts. The six-foot-one right-hander recorded five wins and gave up just six earned runs in 40 1-3 innings last month, earning the AL pitcher of the month award.

Joel Peralta replaced Hellickson in the eighth and yielded a two-run homer to pinch-hitter Miguel Olivo, cutting Tampa Bay’s lead to 3-2. But Peralta got Ichiro Suzuki to fly out to end the inning and Kyle Farnsworth finished for his 11th save in 12 chances.

Tampa Bay scored three times in the second inning against Doug Fister (3-6).

Twins 7, Royals 2

KANSAS CITY — Alexi Casilla matched a career high with four hits and drove in two runs, leading the Minnesota Twins to a 7-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night.

Casilla stroked RBI singles in the third and seventh innings to help the Twins to their third straight win, equalling a season high. Casilla’s other four-hit game was Sept. 3, 2007 against the Cleveland Indians.

Nick Blackburn (5-4) allowed two runs on seven hits, but departed after five innings and 80 pitches with tightness in his back. Blackburn is 4-0 in his past seven starts after finishing April with four straight losses. Five Twins relievers held the Royals to a single over the final four innings.

Tigers 4, White Sox 2

CHICAGO — Miguel Cabrera hit a tiebreaking two-run homer with two out in the ninth inning, sending Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers to a 4-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday night.

Austin Jackson opened the ninth with a leadoff triple against Toronto native Jesse Crain (2-2), who nearly wriggled out of the jam. Don Kelly popped out and Brennan Boesch struck out before Cabrera hit a 1-2 pitch over the right-field fence to put the Tigers ahead 4-2.

Jose Valverde retired the White Sox in the bottom half for his 15th save in 15 chances. Alex Rios led off with a walk, but Valverde set down the next three batters to end the game.

Detroit has won four of five.

Yankees 3, Angels 2

ANAHEIM — CC Sabathia came within one out of his second complete game in three starts, Alex Rodriguez hit a go-ahead two-run homer and Robinson Cano also went deep, leading the New York Yankees to a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday night.

Rodriguez snapped a 1-1 tie in the sixth with his 10th homer of the season and 623rd of his career, driving Ervin Santana’s 1-1 pitch into the rock pile in left-centre field after a leadoff walk to Curtis Granderson. The two RBIs increased A-Rod’s total to 1,864, tying Mel Ott for ninth on the all-time list. Next up is Willie Mays at 1,903.

Derek Jeter was 1-for-3 with a walk, tying Sam Rice for 28th on the career hit list.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Travis Hafner was re-introduced to a bat on Friday and the meeting went well. He took some swings — in baseball terms he took some dry swings — and everything felt fine with his injured right oblique muscle.

“I’ll hit off the tee on Saturday and go from there,” said Hafner.

Hafner strained the oblique muscle, which is located on both sides of the rib cage, during batting practice on May 18 at U.S. Cellular Field. Hafner and his .345 (39-for-113) batting average have not been in the lineup since.

Lonnie Soloff, Indians head athletic trainer, said Hafner could be in “game activities’ in two weeks. That would probably be in a rehab situation.

“The injury is frustrating,” said Hafner. “The team is doing great this year. I was swinging the bat well so obviously you want to be in there and playing every day. But they continue to play well. You just look forward to getting back as quick as you can.”

The Indians are 7-8 without Hafner’s eight doubles, five homers, 22 RBI and .549 slugging percentage. They had a five-game lead in the AL Central when he was hurt. They went into Friday night’s game against Texas with a 4 1/2 game lead.

More injury news: Alex White (right middle finger) leaves for Goodyear, Ariz., on Saturday to continue his rehab. Veteran first baseman Nick Johnson graduated from extended spring training and was in Class AA Akron’s starting lineup on Friday night.

The Indians signed Johnson in spring training. He was coming off his fourth operation on his right wrist. This time a tendon was removed.

Soloff said Johnson was playing four days a week at DH and first base in extended spring. He expected him to do the same at Akron.

The terms of Johnson’s minor league deal will pay him $750,000 if he makes the big league club. The Indians hold a $2.75 million option for 2012, but they must add him to the big league club by July 1 for that to go into effect.

“He’s felt good swinging the bat,” said Soloff. 

Tonight’s lineups:

Rangers (31-26): 2B Ian Kinsler (R), SS Elvis Andrus (R), LF Josh Hamilton (L), DH Michael Young (R), 3B Adrian Beltre (R), RF Nelson Cruz (R), 1B Mitch Moreland (L), C Mike Napoli (R), CF Endy Chavez (L), RHP Alexi Ogando (5-0, 2.33).

Indians (32-20): CF Michael Brantley (L), SS Asdrubal Cabrera (S), RF Shin-Soo Choo (L), C Carlos Santana (S), DH Grady Sizemore (L), 2B Orlando Cabrera (R), LF Travis Buck (L), 1B Matt LaPorta (R), 3B Adam Everett (R), RHP Justin Masterson (5-3, 3.07).

Lineup note: Jack Hannahan was scratched from the Indians lineup and replaced by Adam Everett at third base.

Him vs. me: Hamilton is hitting 4-for-6 with a homer and two RBI against Masterson. Brantley and Santana are the only Indians to face Ogando. They’re a combined 0-for-3.

Left vs. right: Lefties are hitting .304 (51-for-168) with three homers and righties are hitting .162 (16-for-99) against Masterson.

Lefties are hitting .213 (32-for-150) with six homers and righties are hitting .153 (13-for-85) with one homer against Ogando.

Quote of the day: “You look at those (career statistical) categories and say — I’m going to be honest with you — why the (heck) am I not in the Hall of Fame? I’m not going to kiss the butts of the writers. I put numbers up that are Hall of Fame numbers. Until they recognize that, you can only look at January sixth (6th) and say, ‘It’s another year,’” former Indians pitcher Bert Blyleven, who was finally elected to the Hall of Fame in December.

Umpires: H Jeff Kellogg, 1B Eric Cooper, 2B Lance Barrett, 3B Mark Carlson.

Next: Texas lefty Derek Holland (4-1, 4.96) faces Fausto Carmona on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. STO and WTAM/1100 will carry the game.

Q: Last Saturday night against the Reds at Progressive Field, you were hit hard in the facemask with a foul tip. How badly were you hurt?

A: “I think I almost got knocked out. The trainer said, ‘Are you OK? Can you continue to play?’ I said, ‘Yes, I want to help my team win.’

“It’s not the first time it’s happened. Guys who catch get hit in the mouth, the arm and the body with foul tips. I wear a mouth guard sometimes and it helps a lot, but I wasn’t using it Saturday night.”

Q: Did you always want to be a catcher?

A: “No, I signed with the Dodgers as a third baseman when I was 17. The first team that looked at me was the Cleveland Indians. They told me they wanted to sign me, but they waited. That same week I went to the Dodgers for a tryout and they signed me.

“I’m very excited to be back with the Indians. When I was younger, my favorite team on PlayStation was the Cleveland Indians. I loved that team with Robbie Alomar, Omar Vizquel and Sandy Alomar behind the plate.”

Q: Tell me about your family.

A: “I have two brothers and five sisters. My father, Rafael, played baseball, but not professionally. He’s in the military in the Dominican Republic. My mother, Nores, is a psychologist.”

Q: What kind of bat do you use?

A: “I’ve used the same bat all my life. It’s a Louisville Slugger, 31 to 32 ounces and 33 1/3 to 34 inches long.”

Q: When you injured your knee in Boston last year, were you ever afraid to come back and catch again?

A: “Some people thought I’d have fear when I came back. All I knew is that I was coming back. I didn’t know if it would be late or early, but one day I was coming back.”

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Indians beat the Rays, 7-3, Saturday afternoon for just the second time in their last 11 games at Tropicana Field.

Shelly Duncan’s two-run double and Orlando Cabrera’s two-run single in the eighth inning turned a 3-2 game into a laugher. The victory ended the Indians three-game losing streak, which matched their longest of the season.

Duncan, pinch-hitting for Travis Buck with the bases loaded and no one out, doubled deep to left field to bring home two runs. Duncan is 4-for-5 with seven RBI as a pinch-hitter this season.

Orlando Cabrera added a two-out single to center to bring home Shin-Soo Choo and Duncan. Three of the runs were unearned because of an error by second baseman Ben Zobrist.

Chris Perez earned his 14th save in 15 chances in wild fashion. He entered the ninth with the bases loaded and two out. Johnny Damon sent a grounder to Matt LaPorta at first that he didn’t field cleanly. Casey Kotchman scored, but the Indians caught Sean Rodriguez in a rundown between third and home for the final out.

Carlos Carrasco pitched six innings for the victory. Carrasco (4-2, 4.91) allowed two runs on seven hits in six innings. He struck out four and has won three of his four starts since coming off the disabled list on May 11.

The Indians took a 2-0 lead in the first. Michael Brantley opened with a  with a single off James Shields (5-3, 2.29). Asdrubal Cabrera scored him with a triple to left center that B.J. Upton didn’t play well. Then the Indians feel asleep.

Asdrubal Cabrera was picked off third by Shields with Choo at the plate for the first out. Choo followed with a single that would have made it 2-0. Buck added another single to chase Choo to third.

Carlos Santana hit a sacrifice fly to right field and it’s fortunate Choo sprinted home because for some reason Buck was running on contact and was doubled off first base to end the inning. If Choo hadn’t scored before Buck was retired, the run wouldn’t have counted.

It was the second time this season the Indians have had a player picked off third. It happened to Choo on April 13 against Los Angeles at Angel Stadium.

LaPorta, who was born in Port Charlotte, Fla., and lives in Clearwater, Fla., let the hometown fans down Friday when he struck out four times in a 5-0 loss. He made up for that in the second inning Saturday when he drove a 1-2 pitch into the right field
seats for a homer and a 3-0 lead.

It was LaPorta’s sixth homer and first since May 19. LaPorta homered, singled, walked and lined out to center.

When Shields faced the Indians on May 12 at Progressive Field, he held them to two runs over seven innings in a 7-4 victory. On Saturday Shields, 1-5 lifetime against the Tribe, allowed three runs on seven hits in seven innings to take the loss.

Carrasco’s first three innings for the Indians were decent with the exception of his pitch selection to Evan Longoria. The Rays third baseman, batting leadoff for the first time in his career to try get him to be more selective at the plate, started the game with single. With two out in the third, he homered on Carrasco’s 2-0 pitch to make it 3-1.

Longoria, since coming off the disabled list (strained oblique) on May 3, went into Saturday’s game hitting .222 (18-for-81).

The Rays made it 3-2 on Rodriguez’s squeeze bunt in the fourth. Matt Joyce opened the inning with a single and went to third on Casey Kotchman’s single past Orlando Cabrera at second base.

The Indians were caught flat-footed by the Rodriguez’s bunt. Carrasco and LaPorta charged the ball. Santana came from in back of the plate and pointed for Carrasco, who fielded the ball, to go to first base. Carrasco tossed it to Santana instead as Joyce scored and Rodriguez was given a hit.

If Carrasco had thrown to first base, no one would have been there. LaPorta charged from first and Orlando Cabrera didn’t come over from second base.

Carrasco pitched out of further trouble by retiring Sam Fuld on a liner to right and Kelly Shoppach on a fly ball to center.

 

 

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Indians game against the Twins on Friday night was postponed because of rain at Target Field.  It will be made up when the Indians return to Minneapolis later in the season.

Tonight’s scheduled starter, Fausto Carmona, will pitch Saturday’s game at 1:10 p.m. Carlos Carrasco will start Sunday.

The rainout gave the Twins a chance to change their rotation. They’ll go with lefty Brian Duensing today against Carmona and Carl Pavano on Sunday against Carrasco. Lefty Francisco Liriano, originally scheduled to start Saturday, will be skipped.

Liriano is off to a 1-3 start. Last season he was 3-0 against the Indians.

The Indians return to Minneapolis for a three-game series on July 18 and for another three-game series on Sept. 16.