St. Petersburg, FL – Matt Moore threw six dominant innings in his first start of the season, while Ben Zobrist knocked in three runs on a pair of doubles to help the Tampa Bay Rays notch a 4-0 victory over the Cleveland Indians at Tropicana Field.
Moore (1-0) yielded just two hits and a pair of walks while striking out eight batters before giving way to the Tampa bullpen, with Jake McGee, Brandon Gomes and Joel Peralta combining for three perfect frames to finish off the shutout.
The Indians didn't record a hit after Michael Bourn's double in the third inning. The Cleveland leadoff batter also singled in the first to account for the team's only other hit.
"I think their guy had something to do with that," said Cleveland manager Terry Francona referring to Moore.
Sam Fuld scored on both of Zobrist's two-baggers as part of a 2-for-4 night, with Jose Lobaton also collecting a pair of hits in the win.
Zach McAllister (0-1) was reached for four runs -- only two of which were earned -- over six innings of work for Cleveland, which has now dropped two straight following a 2-0 beginning to the young season.
McAllister was nearly spotless over the first three innings, retiring all but one of the 10 Rays who batted during that stretch, but encountered some trouble with the game still scoreless in the fourth.
Zobrist followed Fuld's leadoff single with his first double of the night, a drive into the right-field corner that scored his teammate from first. He took third on Evan Longoria's base hit before later coming home on Yunel Escobar's grounder to short for a 2-0 Tampa lead.
"As a team, I liked what we did today," said Fuld. "I thought we had a lot of good at-bats against a guy we haven't seen much. Its encouraging to get off to a good start like that."
A two-out error by Tribe third baseman Mike Aviles kept the Rays batting in the fifth, and Zobrist made Cleveland pay for the miscue with a nearly identical shot in his next at-bat. That double plated both Desmond Jennings and Fuld, who singled after Aviles' misplay to put runners on the corners.
Unlike his counterpart, Moore was rarely in trouble throughout his entire stint, which the talented lefty finished up by setting down 11 of the final 12 hitters he faced.
Cleveland's only threat against Moore came in the third, when Aviles worked a leadoff walk and took third on Bourn's one-out double. Aviles then tried to come home on Asdrubal Cabrera's grounder to third, but Longoria fired to the plate to catch the Tribe infielder in a rundown before Moore fanned Jason Kipnis to end the inning.
The Indians had only one runner reach base from that point on, with Moore and the three relievers combining to retire Cleveland's final 17 hitters.
Game Notes
Gomes was recalled from Triple-A Durham prior to the game after the Rays placed pitcher Jeff Niemann on the 15-day disabled list with a sore right shoulder ... The Rays had allowed a total of 20 runs in their season-opening three-game set with Baltimore, in which the Orioles won twice ... The Indians fell to 4-13 in their last 17 visits to Tropicana Field ... Tampa Bay traded catcher Stephen Vogt to Oakland earlier on Friday. He had been designated for assignment by the club on Mar. 31.
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