White Sox 15 - Indians 10

If the Chicago White Sox rock the Indians' ace for 10 earned runs, what's going to happen to their No. 2?

Right-handed Fausto Carmona, the Tribe's No. 1 pitcher, couldn't keep his sinkerball down in the strike zone. That led to a terrible outing for Carmona in the Indians' 15-10 loss to the White Sox before a sold-out opening-day crowd of 41,721 at Progressive Field.

Indians fans hope this isn't a sign of things to come.



Carmona is going to be counted on heavily this season. He couldn't have been any worse in his first start. When your best pitcher has a 30.00 ERA, it might be time to reassess.

"This is my No. 1 guy," Indians manager Manny Acta said. "He pitched 210 quality innings last year. He's not a weak link.

"That was our only fault. Our No. 1 guy didn't have it today. You can't fault us for scoring 10 runs and having 17 hits."

No. 2 starter Carlos Carrasco will pitch against the White Sox at 1:05 today.

The White Sox wasted little time getting to Carmona (0-1). They pushed across two runs on four hits in the first inning. Paul Konerko and Carlos Quentin had key RBI hits for a 2-0 lead.

Adam Dunn and Quentin clobbered two-run homers in the third to seemingly break the game open. Suddenly, it was 6-0. Quentin was 3-for-4 with five RBI on the afternoon.

Carmona didn't make it out of the fourth inning. He was given the hook after Dunn's two-run double with the bases loaded, which made the score 8-0.

Reliever Justin Germano didn't exactly extinguish the uprising. By the time he got the last out of the fourth, the White Sox had a two-touchdown lead, 14-0.

"(Carmona) was attacking hitters," Acta said. "He had some strikeouts, but he had to work hard for them."

Carmona could have had some emotions stemming from his first opening-day start.

"I was excited," he said.

The Indians, though, refused to roll over. They scored four runs in the sixth. Newly acquired second baseman Orlando Cabrera's two-run single was the big blow for the Tribe. Travis Hafner lined a shot off the center-field wall, but couldn't advance because Shin-Soo Choo was standing on second.

They came back with two home runs in the seventh to cut their deficit in half, 14-7.

Third baseman Jack Hannahan led off the inning with a 401-foot solo shot, his first homer since Aug. 26, 2009, vs. Kansas City. He played for Seattle at the time.

Catcher Carlos Santana followed with a two-run homer to left center with Asdrubal Cabrera on board. Santana was 3-for-5 with three RBI in his first game since his serious knee injury last August.

"He's a young kid who can hit," Acta said. "He knows the strike zone. He had some quality at bats. He's going to be a very good player for a long time."

He wasn't sure it was a home run until he watched it on replay.

Tribe DH Travis Hafner kept a positive outlook.

"Opening day is a special day," Hafner said. "We were able to put up some runs and make it interesting at the end. That's the mentality of the team."

White Sox left hander Mark Buehrle (1-0, 6.00) threw six innings and allowed four runs and eight hits.

In all, the teams combined for 25 runs and 35 hits.

"We showed a lot of heart," Tribe reliever Frank Herrmann said. "We came out swinging. We gave them a good show.

"The crowd stayed around, which was cool. You never know. It's a crazy game."