Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - Shelley Duncan smacked a two-run homer and
scored twice, while Ubaldo Jimenez fired six strong innings as the Cleveland
Indians downed the Tampa Bay Rays, 7-3, in the third installment of a
four-game set.
Jimenez (8-7) struck out eight and surrendered two runs on five hits and a
walk in six innings for Cleveland, which has won six of its last eight games.
Carlos Santana and Michael Brantley each tallied a hit, an RBI and run scored.
Matt Moore (5-6) was charged with five runs on five hits and five walks in 4
2/3 innings for the Rays, who have dropped three of their last four contests.
Luke Scott cracked a two-run shot, while B.J. Upton belted a solo blast.
The Indians struck first, scoring three runs in the second frame and two
more in the third.
Brantley began the third with a double, and after Duncan walked, Lou Marson
looped a double to left that just snuck past a diving Desmond Jennings,
plating Brantley.
Duncan scored when Jack Hannahan grounded out and Aaron Cunningham's double
pushed across Marson for a 3-0 Indians advantage.
Asdrubal Cabrera walked and Jose Lopez doubled to start the third. Cabrera
came home on Brantley's groundout and Santana belted an opposite-field double
off the base of the wall in right-center, scoring Lopez to stretch the
Cleveland margin to 5-0.
The Rays got two runs back in the fourth when Scott hammered a two-run shot to
center, cutting the deficit to 5-2.
Cleveland, though, tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the eighth. Santana
worked a leadoff walk and Duncan belted a two-run blast to center, making it
7-2.
Upton's solo shot in the ninth accounted for the final margin.
Game Notes
Tampa Bay was 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position while Cleveland
finished 3-for-9...The Indians hold a 71-43 advantage all-time against Tampa
Bay.
The Sports Network