Monday, July 26, 2010
Associated Press
CLEVELAND
Reid Brignac liked his defense even more than his three-run homer. So did Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon.
Brignac staked Wade Davis to a 3-1 lead with one swing, then made a diving stop to help the right-hander remain unbeaten in July as the Rays beat the Cleveland Indians 4-2 Sunday.
“I was at the right place at the right time,” Brignac said of taking away at least one run and possibly two with his stellar seventh-inning stop. “To help save it means more to me.”
Joaquin Benoit relieved Davis (8-9) with one out and the Rays leading 4-2. Cleveland got runners to second and third with two outs when Carlos Santana hit a sharp line drive past first.
Brignac, playing about 20 feet on the grass in short right on a shift, made a diving stop toward the foul line on the ball’s first bounce, scrambled to his feet and threw out the rookie to end the threat.
“How about that?” Maddon said. “A lot of that has to do with our advance scouts. We don’t know Santana, he’s been in the league what, three weeks? Normally, you don’t move for a young guy, but our scouts gave us a good report.”
The Rays took two of three in the series to improve the majors’ best road record to 33-18. They had lost 18 in a row at Progressive Field since 2005 before winning Saturday.
“We had bad vibes here, but I like the way we came back,” Maddon said. “Amazing how the mood changes with one win, but we’ve actually been playing very well.”
Tampa Bay scored five or more runs six times in going 5-4 on a trip to New York, Baltimore and Cleveland.
Cleveland designated hitter Travis Hafner went 4 for 4, but the Indians were only 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position — making them 1 for 26 over four games.
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