Indians’ pitching lets another one go

Associated Press

Cleveland

Edwin Jackson extended his mastery of Cleveland, Gordon Beckham and Carlos Quentin had two RBIs apiece and the Chicago White Sox beat the Indians 8-3 on Saturday for their first 2-0 start since 2005 — when they won the World Series.

Jackson, who is 8-0 in his last nine starts against Cleveland, allowed two earned runs and five hits in six innings. He had one shaky frame, and that wasn’t all his fault as two errors on one play by third baseman Brent Morel helped the Indians score two in the second.

Chicago jumped out to a 5-0 lead in two innings against Carlos Carrasco (0-1), who recovered and hung around until the seventh.

Travis Hafner homered for Cleveland in front of a crowd of 9,853 — the smallest in Progressive Field since the ballpark opened in 1994.

Of Jackson’s 49 career wins, eight have come against Cleveland. He’s 4-0 in his seven starts at Progressive Field, and the 27-year-old hasn’t lost to the Indians since 2007.

Chicago’s bullpen bounced back after a brutal opener, when it gave up six runs in three innings. Chris Sale and Sergio Santos combined for three scoreless innings.

The White Sox wasted little time in taking a 5-0 lead after two innings. Chicago’s hitters seemed to extend their batting practice routines into the game against Carrasco, who was hit hard early.

Chicago scored four times in the second on Alexei Ramirez’s RBI single, Beckham’s two-run base hit and an RBI groundout by Adam Dunn. Carrasco was on the cusp of being sent to an early shower, but he got bailed out when third baseman Jack Hannahan made a diving catch to snare Alex Rios’ line drive to end the inning with two runners on.

The Indians closed to 5-3 in the second on Hafner’s blast and Hannahan’s two-run single, which was set up by Morel’s miscues. With a runner at first, he bobbled Buck’s grounder and threw the ball into the photographer’s pit.

Jackson settled down after that, allowing just two hits over the next four innings.