Cleveland, OH – Shelley Duncan smacked a two-run homer and scored twice, while Ubaldo Jimenez fired six strong innings as the Cleveland Indians downed the Tampa Bay Rays, 7-3, in the third installment of a four-game set.
Jimenez (8-7) struck out eight and surrendered two runs on five hits and a walk for Cleveland, which has won six of its last eight games. It was the fifth time in his last seven starts that Jimenez allowed three runs or fewer.
"Ubaldo continues to give us good outings," said Indians manager Manny Acta. "This is his seventh in a row. He had very good command of the strike zone."
Carlos Santana and Michael Brantley each tallied a hit, an RBI and run scored.
Matt Moore (5-6) was charged with five runs on five hits and five walks in 4 2/3 innings for the Rays, who have dropped three of their last four contests.
Luke Scott cracked a two-run shot, while B.J. Upton belted a solo blast.
The Indians struck first, scoring three runs in the second frame and two more in the third.
Brantley began the third with a double, and after Duncan walked, Lou Marson looped a double to left that just snuck past a diving Desmond Jennings, plating Brantley.
Duncan scored when Jack Hannahan grounded out and Aaron Cunningham's double pushed across Marson for a 3-0 Indians advantage.
Asdrubal Cabrera walked and Jose Lopez doubled to start the third. Cabrera came home on Brantley's groundout and Santana belted an opposite-field double off the base of the wall in right-center, scoring Lopez to stretch the Cleveland margin to 5-0.
"I'm either going to be putting pressure on them or [they're] putting pressure on me," said Moore of his shaky start. "I couldn't find an adjustment to make it the opposite. So they were putting pressure on me. ... I was pitching from behind a lot."
The Rays got two runs back in the fourth when Scott hammered a two-run shot to center, cutting the deficit to 5-2.
Cleveland, though, tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the eighth. Santana worked a leadoff walk and Duncan belted a two-run blast to center, making it 7-2.
Upton's solo shot in the ninth accounted for the final margin.
Game Notes
Tampa Bay was 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position while Cleveland finished 3-for-9...The Indians hold a 71-43 advantage all-time against Tampa Bay.
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