Second Straight Big Day For the Offense as Indians Top Rays 8-7; Three Takeaways from the Win

It was a beautiful night for baseball at Progressive Field, and while most fans showed up thinking they would get a pitchers duel between Carlos Carrasco for

It was a beautiful night for baseball at Progressive Field, and while most fans showed up thinking they would get a pitchers duel between Carlos Carrasco for the Indians and Chris Archer for the Rays, that wasn't the way it went.

Both pitchers had their issues, with the Indians putting up a five spot in the first after the Rays scored themselves in the top of the frame.

In the end, the Indians pulled out their second straight win, 8-7 as they improve to 20-17 on the season. There's a lot from this game to go over, so here's our three takeaways from the victory.

1. Losing Carrasco

It was a short night for Indians starter Carlos Carrasco, lasing just 3.2 innings before being pulled due to tightness in his pec muscle.

After the game Terry Francona didn't seem too concerned about the injury, nor did Carracso, but it has to have had Indians fans worried seeing Carrasco get pulled.

The pitcher, who had been dominant on the road, wasn't nearly as good in the outing on Monday, allowing five runs in 3.2 innings of work.

Carrasco's history of injuries has always been a key reason why many think he's never been able to take the next step to being an elite pitcher.

Here's hoping that the pec injury will feel a lot better Tuesday, and Carrasco will be able to make his next slated start which is in Houston over the weekend.

2. Getting Crooked Early

The Indians looked up after the first half inning and found themselves down 1-0, but came back in a huge way against Rays ace Chris Archer with five first inning runs.

The last two days the team has started fast on offense, and considering before Sunday they averaged 2.4 runs per game in the first 11 games of the month, the last two days they have scored 16 runs, showing again how good this offense can be when it gets going.

The first inning was cemented again by a big blow by Lonnie Chisenhall, who slammed a three-run homer to put the team up 5-1. Chisenhall's blast was big as it came with two outs and two on, building a four-run lead for the Tribe.

On the season Chisnhall has four homers, two in the last two days. No matter who it was, it was great to see the team get those 'response runs' and put up an early five spot in building a lead.

3. Pen Makes It Count

The Indians bullpen, which to no surprise has been great thus far in 2017, stepped up again Monday, allowing two runs in the final five innings of the win.

Oddly the two guys that gave up runs were Andrew Miller and Cody Allen, two guys that normally shut the door with the best of them.

Boone Logan got the win, but Terry Francona wasn't afraid to use the pen often, as Nick Goody, Logan, Bryan Shaw, Miller and Allen all took the mound for the Indians in the win.

Goody has quietly been excellent, as he's not allowed an earned run through 13.2 innings this year (one unearned run).

It's big to get a win on a night when your starter only lasts 3.2 innings, but like we saw in the postseason last year, some nights are going to go that way.

Here's hoping Danny Salazar, who couldn't hold a lead in Toronto last Wednesday, can turn it around and give the rotation some innings on Tuesday.