Tampa Bay rallied from three down after four innings to beat the Indians, 6-3. The Rays snapped an 18-game losing streak to the Indians in Cleveland.
View full sizeThe Indians watch their dominance of the Tampa Bay Rays finally come to an end on Saturday with a 6-3 loss at Progressive Field.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Through four innings Saturday night, it was the biggest lock in sports.
The Indians, behind strikeout machine Mitch Talbot, were going to defeat the Tampa Bay Rays in Cleveland yet again.
Then the thinkable happened. The Rays realized they are a contender, and that there is no logical reason to continue being dominated by the Tribe on the road.
Or maybe Rays personnel simply got tired of the Indians' "Christmas in July'' promotion.
Whatever the case, Tampa Bay righted itself in a hurry, rallying from three down to defeat the Tribe, 6-3, at Progressive Field. It snapped an 18-game losing streak to the Indians in Cleveland dating to Sept. 29, 2005.
The skid was the longest active by one team in an opposing venue. Tampa Bay was outscored, 110-48, in those 18 games.
The Rays (58-38) pulled within three of the Yankees in the AL East. They are a major-league-best 32-18 on the road.
The Tribe (41-56) slipped to 7-2 since the All-Star break. It is 2-6 against Tampa Bay this season.
View full sizeShelley Duncan, right, gives the Indians a 3-0 lead in the second inning with his two-run homer, driving in Matt LaPorta, left.Friday night, the Indians won the rain-shortened opener of the three-game series, 3-1. They held the Rays to one hit -- an infield single -- in 6 1/2 innings.
Despite facing a terrific starter Saturday in lefty David Price, the Tribe sustained the momentum in the early innings.
The Indians took a 1-0 lead in the first. Trevor Crowe led off with a walk and scored on Shin-Soo Choo's one-out double to left.
Shelley Duncan's two-run homer to left in the second made it 3-0. Price got into trouble by relying too much on his money pitch, the fastball.
Meanwhile, Talbot was virtually untouchable. He struck out six consecutive batters from the first through the third innings, tying a franchise record.
Talbot joined Bob Feller (October 2, 1938), Bartolo Colon (July 26, 2000) and Chuck Finley (May 28, 2002) as the Indians to notch six straight strikeouts.
Talbot should have had the record all to himself. A 2-2 pitch to former Indian Kelly Shoppach appeared to be a strike, but umpire Mike Everitt called it a ball. Replays showed the ball crossed the plate comfortably within the strike zone.
Shoppach grounded to short.
The Rays managed one hit -- a single to left by Jason Bartlett -- through four.
It must have been particularly painful for the Rays to have Talbot shutting them down. The Indians acquired Talbot from Tampa Bay as the player to be named in the Kelly Shoppach trade last December. Talbot has been one of the best rookie starters in the American League.
Tampa Bay's uprising began innocently enough. With two outs and none on in the fifth, Shoppach singled. Bartlett singled, Shoppach stopping at second.
Then Ben Zobrist brough the thunder. He ripped Talbot's pitch deep to left-center for what initially went for a triple. The umpires watched the tape, saw that the ball hit above the yellow line and awarded Zobrist a homer.
The Rays took a 5-3 lead in the sixth, knocking out Talbot in the process. Carlos Pena homered and B.J. Upton hit an RBI double.
Talbot (8-9) gave up five runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings.
Tampa Bay tacked on one in the seventh.
Price gave up three hits in seven innings. He improved to 13-5.
The Indians were held to four hits.