CLEVELAND – Reid Brignac hit a three-run homer that helped Wade Davis remain unbeaten in July, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Cleveland Indians 4-2 Sunday.
Brignac connected off Justin Masterson (3-9) in the second inning to put Tampa Bay ahead 3-1.
Davis (8-9) improved to 3-0 in four starts this month after going 0-5 in June. The right-hander allowed two runs and seven hits over 6 1-3 innings as Tampa Bay won its second straight after losing 18 in a row at Progressive Field since 2005.
The Rays took two of three in the series to improve the majors' best road record to 33-18. They scored five or more runs six times in going 5-4 on a trip to New York, Baltimore and Cleveland.
Cleveland designated hitter Travis Hafner went 4 for 4, but the Indians were only 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position — making them 1 for 26 over the past four games.
A sparkling play by Brignac at second base helped Joaquin Benoit protect a 4-2 lead in the seventh. With runners on second and third and two outs, Carlos Santana hit a line drive past first — but Brignac, playing in short right on a shift, made a diving stop on the first bounce, scrambled to his feet and threw out the rookie to end the threat.
Rafael Soriano pitched the ninth for his 26th save in 28 chances; one off his career high set a year ago.
Davis tied Cleveland's Mitch Talbot for the most wins by an American League rookie and improved to 5-0 with a 2.45 ERA in seven career starts against AL Central teams.
Cleveland took a 1-0 lead in the first. Michael Brantley drew a leadoff walk off and scored on Santana's sacrifice fly.
After Brignac's homer, the Indians got to 3-2 in the bottom of the second. Hafner had a leadoff single and scored on a groundout by Andy Marte.
Marte misplayed a grounder by Jason Bartlett for an error to open the Rays' fifth. Bartlett stole second, took third on a groundout and scored on Carl Crawford's sac fly to make it 4-2.
Masterson gave up three earned runs and five hits over 6 2-3 innings. The right-hander dropped to 1-3 in eight starts since pitching his first career shutout June 9 against Boston.
Two Cleveland relievers picked off consecutive Rays trying to steal in the eighth. A few pitches after Crawford took second base for his 34th steal of the season, right-hander Joe Smith got him trying to take third. Smith walked Evan Longoria and was replaced by lefty Tony Sipp — who got an out without making a pitch. Before facing Carlos Pena, Sipp stepped off the rubber as Longoria took off for second and got a caught stealing to end the inning.
NOTES: Hafner had a career-high four hits for the ninth time. His fourth-inning double extended Cleveland's streak to 47 games with an extra-base hit. It's the longest active streak in the majors and the team's longest since a 69-game streak in 2008. ... Rays OF B.J. Upton, 5 for 11 with two doubles and a home run against Masterson, did not start. He entered as a defensive replacement in the eighth. ... Santana broke an 0 for 10 streak with a third-inning single. ... Cleveland pitchers are 10-4 with a 2.06 ERA at home since June 28.
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