The Indians took a 1-0 first-inning lead today over the Tampa Bay Rays on a Carlos Santana sacrifice fly, but a three-run homer in the second by Reid Brignac off of Justin Masterson provided the Rays with all the runs they would need in a 4-2 victory over Cleveland, to take two of three from the Tribe in the weekend series.
The Indians clawed back with a run in the second on an Andy Marte RBI fielder’s chocie, but that was all the scoring the Indians could muster. A brilliant defensive play in the bottom of the seventh by Brignac against Santana, with Brignac ranging far into right field with a shift on to snare Santana’s one-hopper and throw him out at first, with runners on second and third and two outs, was the defensive play of the game.
Wade Davis got the victory for Tampa Bay to improve to 8-9 and remain unbeaten in July, while Masterson took the loss to fall to 3-9. Rafael Soriano pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his 26th save.
The Indians' Travis Hafner collected four of the Tribe's 11 hits in the loss, the best game for Hafner since 2007.
The New York Yankees invade Progressive Field tomorrow night to open a four-game series.