DETROIT: There has been no announcement, but Ezequiel Carrera will be the Indians’ regular left fielder against right-handed pitchers.
“Obviously, Shelley Duncan will be in there against lefties,” manager Manny Acta said Sunday.
So far, Carrera has been a spark in the bottom third of the lineup, going 7-for-12 in his first three games. Acta moved him from ninth to seventh in the lineup Sunday and he responded with two singles and a 10th-inning homer.
Carrera’s game is speed, and he would have stolen a base in the fourth inning Sunday but umpire Andy Fletcher missed the call at second. Carrera did steal second in the sixth.
When Carrera was with the Tribe last year, he learned that speed alone isn’t enough to be a successful base stealer. It was apparent that he needed work on getting a jump and reading pitchers.
“It’s just like everything else,” Acta said. “People in the big leagues are better: pitchers holding runners, catchers are a little better. That’s why they’re here.”
DANGEROUS GAME — Acta’s response when he was told that Ubaldo Jimenez has allowed the leadoff batter to reach 26 times in 42 innings dating to July 1: “That’s a bad thing to do. It doesn’t matter who you are, there’s an extremely high possibility that the [leadoff] guy is going to score if he gets on.”
TRIVIA PURSUIT — When Carrera tripled to break up a no-hitter in the sixth inning Saturday night and tripled again in the ninth, it was the first time a Tribe batter had hit two triples in a game since Josh Barfield did it against the Oakland Athletics on May 12, 2007.
FARM FACTS — David Huff gave up one run and eight hits in 5⅓ innings in Columbus’ 3-1 loss to Norfolk in Class AAA. Cord Phelps hit his 12th homer of the year. … Jake Lowery hit his fourth home run of the season and had three RBI in Lake County’s 7-6 loss to South Bend in Class A. … Logan Vick had two hits and one RBI in Mahoning Valley’s 8-3 loss to Tri-City in Class A. … Claudio Battista hit his third home run of the year and singled three times, driving in three runs, as the Arizona Indians beat the Dodgers 14-12. Ryan Battaglia hit his third homer of the year.
— Sheldon Ocker
