Indians rally to send Rays to fifth straight loss
CLEVELAND (AP) -- The Cleveland Indians are developing a habit of pulling out late-inning victories.
Francisco Lindor and Juan Uribe provided the drama Monday night by homering in the eighth inning, and the Indians beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-4.
The Indians were coming off a three-game sweep of the Chicago White Sox that featured two walkoff wins.
"That was nice to see, but I'm not sure we sit there during the game and act surprised," manager Terry Francona said. "Just try to figure out a way to win the game."
Lindor hit the first pitch from Erasmo Ramirez (7-5) into the lower deck in right field for his eighth homer of the season, breaking a 4-all tie. Uribe homered in his third straight game, a two-run shot off Ramirez.
"Whenever we are down we don't think about quitting," Lindor said. "That's the good thing about this team. We believe in each other. We do whatever it takes to come back and win."
Carlos Santana also homered for the AL Central-leading Indians, who have won four straight overall and nine in a row at Progressive Field.
"I actually looked up and saw that and didn't even know it, so I probably don't have a very good answer," Francona said of the home winning streak. "The other games, that was two weeks ago. I think we've played some close games and being at home helps."
Evan Longoria's two-run homer in the first and a solo home run by Brad Miller in the sixth helped Tampa Bay build a 4-2 lead, but the Rays dropped their fifth in a row.
Tampa Bay was 9-2 before its current slide, and manager Kevin Cash is remaining optimistic.
"This organization believes, we believe, I believe and I think, most importantly, our players believe we can kind of right this ship," he said.
Bryan Shaw (1-3) struck out the side in the eighth, and Cody Allen pitched the ninth for his 14th save.
Tampa Bay right fielder Mikie Mahtook sustained a broken left hand when he was hit by Josh Tomlin's pitch in the second inning.
Tomlin allowed four runs in seven innings. Rays starter Drew Smyly also pitched seven innings and gave up four runs.
Tomlin retired Logan Forsythe to start the game, but second baseman Jason Kipnis booted Miller's routine grounder. The ball rolled into right field and Miller hustled into second on the two-base error.
Longoria hit an 0-1 pitch into the porch in left field for his 18th home run.
Desmond Jennings opened the fifth with a triple and scored on Taylor Motter's groundout. Miller's drive landed in the back row of the lower deck in right, his ninth home run of the season.
PARTY ON
The Indians paid tribute to the Cleveland Cavaliers for winning the NBA title, the city's first championship in 52 years. A picture of LeBron James kissing the championship trophy was shown on the scoreboard in the seventh inning, drawing a roar from the crowd of 13,811.
The Cavaliers beat Golden State in Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Rays: Mahtook will return to Tampa for further evaluation. ... Outfielder Steven Souza Jr. received an injection in his sore left hip Monday. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list last week.
Indians: RHP Cody Anderson (sore elbow) is on the disabled list at Triple-A Columbus and is expected to miss at least a month. He is 1-4 with a 7.48 ERA for the Indians.
UP NEXT
Rays: LHP Blake Snell (0-1) will make his third major league start on Tuesday night. He lasted 3 1/3 innings, allowing five runs (one earned) against Seattle in his last start.
Indians: RHP Corey Kluber (6-7) allowed a career high-tying eight runs over five innings in his last start against Kansas City. He's 2-2 in six career starts against the Rays.
