CLEVELAND — This will bring a few tears to your eyes.
Tuesday night, Cleveland Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco returned to his home mound for the first time since being diagnosed with leukemia earlier this summer.
Carrasco was brought out to pitch in relief for the Tribe in the eighth inning against the White Sox.
The ovation he got from fans at Progressive Field was thunderous.
Unfortunately, the White Sox spoiled Cookie's homecoming. Chicago scored four runs on four hits against Carrasco, with three of the runs coming on a James McCann home run. Cookie struck out two and didn't walk a batter. The Indians saw their 5-2 lead turn into a 6-5 deficit, which proved to be the final score.
Carrasco saw action on Sunday in Tampa Bay in his first game since being activated off of the injured list. He allowed a run on two hits in an inning of work against the Rays.
Carrasco had not appeared in a game since May 30, when he was placed on the injured list with a then-unspecified blood condition. He later confirmed it was indeed leukemia, and that he had been experiencing symptoms as early as spring training.
Carrasco made a few rehab appearances at both Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus prior to being activated Sunday when the rosters expanded to 40. Although he has made his bones as a starter, he will be used in the bullpen through the end of the season due to a lack of time to build up arm strength.