Indians 7, Rays 2: Zach Walters went 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs while Carlos Santana knocked in a pair of runs as Cleveland defeated visiting Tampa Bay to take two of three in the season-ending series.
David Murphy homered among two hits and Jose Ramirez had a double, two singles and an RBI for the Indians, who took four of six in the season series against the Rays. T.J. House (5-3) allowed one run on five hits over as many innings to win his fourth consecutive decision.
Tampa Bay starter Alex Cobb (10-9) yielded more than three runs for the first time in 17 starts, permitting four on 10 hits over six innings to suffer the loss. Sean Rodriguez had two hits, including a solo homer, and Evan Longoria also knocked in a run as the Rays lost seven of their last 10 contests.
Rodriguez hammered the first pitch of the second inning into the left-field seats for his 12th blast to open the scoring. Cobb, who had not given up a home run in his last 12 starts, yielded two in the Indians’ half of the second as Murphy and Walters both hit solo shots to right field.
After the teams traded sacrifice flies, Murphy singled to lead off sixth before scoring on Walters’ double just over Brandon Guyer’s glove in left field. The Indians extended their lead in the seventh as Santana dropped a two-run single into right off Jeff Beliveau and another run came home on Jesus Aguilar’s fielder’s choice.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Longoria became the third player in Tampa Bay club history to play in all 162 games, joining Delmon Young (2007) and Aubrey Huff (2003). … Cleveland’s pitching staff ended the season with a major-league record 1,450 strikeouts and Tampa Bay had the second-most in baseball history (1,437). … Ramirez went 14-for-42 with seven runs scored, five RBIs and a pair of stolen bases over the last 10 games of the season.
Tampa Bay | Cleveland | |
Alex Cobb | Player | T.J. House |
Loss | W/L | Win |
6.0 | IP | 5.0 |
5 | Strikeouts | 2 |
10 | Hits | 5 |
6.00 | ERA | 1.80 |
Tampa Bay | Cleveland | |
Sean Rodriguez | Player | Jose Ramirez |
2 | Hits | 3 |
1 | RBI | 1 |
1 | HR | 0 |
5 | TB | 4 |
.500 | Avg | .750 |