Tribe falls to Devil Rays, 6-5, as Seo ends slump
Pitcher Jae Seo snapped a personal 13-game winless streak in halting Indians.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- Jae Seo won for the first time since July, Ben Zobrist drove in two runs and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Cleveland Indians 6-5 Saturday night.
Seo (1-1) gave up five runs and eight hits over six innings to snap a personal 13-game winless streak -- including four losses -- dating to a victory July 19 over the New York Yankees. It was his second win in 20 starts overall with Tampa Bay.
Zobrist gave the Devil Rays a 6-5 lead with an RBI groundout in the sixth. He also hit a run-scoring single in Tampa Bay's three-run second.
Al Reyes pitched a perfect ninth for his sixth save in six opportunities.
The Devil Rays led 5-2 before Indians slugger Travis Hafner hit a long three-run homer in the fifth inning that struck a catwalk over the right-field stands, traveling an estimated 442 feet. He has homered in five consecutive games at Tropicana Field, and has nine homers in 14 games overall there.
Cleveland starter Paul Byrd (1-1) allowed six runs and 11 hits in six innings.
Tribe takes lead
The Indians took a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Josh Barfield hit an RBI single and Andy Marte drove in a run with a groundout.
Tampa Bay responded with three runs in the bottom half. Ty Wigginton homered, B.J. Upton tied it at 2 with an RBI double and Zobrist put the Devil Rays in front when he stopped an 0-for-14 slide with a run-scoring single.
Tampa Bay tacked on two more runs in the third, thanks in part to communication problems between second baseman Barfield and right fielder Trot Nixon. Barfield got in the way of Nixon, who had Delmon Young's two-out RBI double deflect of his glove. Akinori Iwamura followed with a run-scoring single to extend the Devil Rays lead to 5-2.
Hafner walked in the first, the 10th consecutive plate appearance he had reached base. The streak ended in the third when he flew out to deep right-center.
Tampa Bay left-fielder Carl Crawford took an extra-base hit away from Hafner that might have tied it in the seventh with a diving catch. The Indians loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth, but failed to score when Jason Michaels grounded out.
CLEVELANDTAMPA BAY
abrhbiabrhbi
Szmore cf3110Baldelli cf4010
Dllucci lf3110Dukes dh4000
Mchels lf2010Crwfrd lf4000
Hafner dh4113Wggntn 1b4231
VMrtnz 1b5010DYong rf4221
Nixon rf5110Iwmra 3b4011
JhPlta ss4010Upton 2b4221
Shppch c3120Zobrist ss4012
Garko 1b1000Paul c3010
Brfield 2b3011
Marte 3b3001
Blake 3b0000
Totals365105Totals356116
Cleveland020030000--5
Tampa Bay03200100x--6
E--Shoppach (1), DYoung (2), Zobrist (4). DP--Tampa Bay 2. LOB--Cleveland 9, Tampa Bay 5. 2B--Nixon (4), Shoppach (2), DYoung (4), Upton (3). HR--Hafner (4), Wigginton (4). SB--Barfield (1), Upton (2).
IPHRERBBSO
Cleveland
Byrd L,1-16116602
FCabrera200002
Tampa Bay
Seo W,1-1685522
Stokes120002
Salas2-300010
Camp1-300000
Reyes S,6100001
HBP--by Salas (Sizemore), by Salas (Blake). Umpires--Home, Bruce Froemming; First, Brian Runge; Second, Mike Winters; Third, Mark Wegner. T--2:41. A--22,805.
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