Led by Danny Salazar’s pitching and the long ball, the Indians won, 6-0, to claim their series with the Rays on Thursday afternoon at Tropicana Field.
“Ugly loss, frustrating game, obviously,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “We didn’t do too many things well, or anything well for that matter today. Let’s bounce back. We’ve got a night off. Let the guys go out and have a nice dinner, and come back ready to play a new series.”
Francisco Lindor drove home the Indians’ first run with a single to right off Chris Archer in the top of the fifth. Archer returned to pitch the sixth, and he surrendered a leadoff single to Jose Ramirez, followed by a two-run homer to Marlon Byrd. One out later, Steve Geltz replaced Archer, and he gave up a solo home run to Rajai Davis.
Indians No. 9 prospect Tyler Naquin added an RBI single in the seventh, his first career RBI, and Ramirez homered in the ninth to push the lead to 6-0.
Salazar baffled the Rays through six innings — striking out nine in the process — to move to 2-0 on the season. Meanwhile, Archer’s spiral continued. The Rays ace has not won since Aug. 31 last season in Baltimore. In nine starts since, Archer has gone 0-6 with a 5.83 ERA. He had not lasted more than five innings in five consecutive outings prior to going 5 1/3 innings on Thursday. Archer is now 0-3 with a 5.87 ERA in three starts this season.
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