Carrasco out for season after fracturing hand on comebacker

If the Cleveland Indians are going to win their first World Series championship since 1948, they'll have to do it without Carlos Carrasco.

The right-hander will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a non-displaced fracture of the fifth metacarpal on his right hand when he was hit with a line drive just two pitches into his start against the Detroit Tigers on Saturday.

Manager Terry Francona confirmed the 29-year-old's season is over following the Indians' 1-0 walk-off victory.

The 29-year-old was hit in the hand by Ian Kinsler's liner on just his second pitch of the game. He was escorted off the field by Indians trainers and immediately left Progressive Field to undergo X-rays, which revealed the fracture near his pinky finger.

Carrasco is the second Indians starter to suffer a serious injury this week, joining fellow right-hander Danny Salazar, who was shut down because of a forearm strain on Monday and will miss at least the remainder of the regular season.

With both Carrasco and Salazar now sidelined, only Corey Kluber and Trevor Bauer remain as regulars in the Indians' rotation as they near an AL Central title. Josh Tomlin and Mike Clevinger - both of whom are likely to see time as starters going forward - have bounced between the bullpen and rotation during the second half.

Francona remains confident that his pitchers will be able to pick up the load for the rest of the season, and into October, in spite of the loss of his No. 2 starter. As soon as Carrasco left Saturday's game, the veteran skipper called down to the bullpen with an important message for his relief corps.

"Tell them to put their seatbelts on. They're all gonna pitch and we're gonna win," Francona told his relievers, who then picked up Carrasco by combining to throw 10 shutout innings.

Carrasco, who also missed time early in 2016 due to a hamstring injury, finishes his season with a 3.32 ERA, 150 strikeouts, and a 1.14 WHIP over 24 starts.