Matt Garza and Tampa Bay's bullpen turned the Indians' bats into Swiss cheese at Tropicana Field.
Matt Garza worked six scoreless innings Saturday night as Tampa Bay breezed to a 4-0 victory over the Indians at St. Petersburg, Fla.ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Matt Garza was knocked off the mound early Monday night by the Boston Red Sox. On Wednesday, he pitched the final two-thirds of an inning to complete a sweep of the Red Sox with his first big-league save.
So it was understandable Saturday night when he left after six scoreless innings and 88 pitches in Tampa Bay's 4-0 victory over the Indians at Tropicana Field. The man needed a breather.
At least that's why manager Joe Maddon had him on a pitch count. To the Indians, Garza looked anything but tired. He allowed one hit and retired the last 13 batters he faced. Garza and relievers Grant Balfour, Joaquin Benoit and Lance Cormier combined on a three-hitter.
Garza (10-5, 4.05) only had two strikeouts, but he threw 73 percent (64-for-88) of his pitches for strikes. Jhonny Peralta's bloop single in the second was the only hit he allowed.
Aaron Laffey (1-3, 5.12) matched Garza zero for zero through the first three innings. In the fourth, he was burned by a two-out hit to set the pattern for the game.
Gabe Kapler, with runners on second and third, smacked a 0-1 pitch through the middle to give the Rays a 2-0 lead. Laffey retired the first two batters of the inning, but Ben Zobrist singled and Sean Rodriguez hit a ground rule double to left.
Kapler came into the game hitting .227 with runners in scoring position.
The Rays used another two-out hit, this time by Willy Aybar, to stretch the lead to 3-0 in the fifth. Evan Longoria, who hit into double plays in his first two at-bats, scored after just missing a homer with a double off the short wall in left field.
In the eighth, the Rays added their fourth and final two-out run on a perfectly placed excuse me double by Jason Bartlett that landed just inside the right field foul line among Matt LaPorta, Jason Donald and Austin Kearns. Zobrist, who walked and stole second against Tony Sipp, scored.
The run ended Sipp's scoreless appearance streak at nine. It was the longest by an Indians reliever this year.
The Indians, in being shut out for the fifth time, put only four runners in scoring position.
Travis Hafner was replaced by pinch-hitter Andy Marte in the fourth. Hafner left with a tight upper back.
Laffey allowed three runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out one and walked three in throwing 102 pitches. He threw 55 percent (56-for-102) of his pitches for strikes.