Choo and Tomlin power Cleveland past Tampa Bay

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

Despite some flaws, the Indians are staying near the top of the AL Central.

Shin-Soo Choo’s leading the way.

Thriving at the plate since moving into the leadoff spot in May for Cleveland, Choo set the tone by homering to open the first inning and Josh Tomlin pitched seven stellar innings as the Indians beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-1 on Thursday night for their sixth win in eight games.

After trying out four other players in the No. 1 slot, manager Manny Acta moved Choo to the top of the batting order. It may be his best decision all season.

“He was the ideal guy,” Acta said. “He’s a natural for that.”

In 48 games as the leadoff hitter, Choo is batting .327 (64 of 196) with eight homers, 20 RBIs and 42 runs. He has raised his average 60 points from .235 to .295.

“He’s been phenomenal,” said Michael Brantley, who spent 22 games as the primary leadoff hitter before Choo took over. “It’s nice to have somebody on base with the two, three, four guys coming up. It gives us a big boost, it’s going to create more runs and hopefully he can keep swinging it the way he is. He looks real good.”

Brantley connected for a homer in the second off Jeremy Hellickson (4-5) and Travis Hafner homered in the eighth to lead the Indians, who stayed within two games of first-place Chicago.

Tomlin (5-5) limited the Rays to one run and two hits, easily the right-hander’s best outing since April. He didn’t allow a walk, struck out three 58 of 88 pitches for strikes.

“It feels good to contribute,” said Tomlin, who missed three weeks earlier this season with a wrist injury. “It’s nice to be able to help the team win.”

Vinnie Pestano worked the eighth and All-Star closer Chris Perez finished up for his 24th save — all in a row since blowing one on opening day.

The struggling Rays have lost eight of 10, fell to 4-13 against the AL Central and have scored more than four runs once in the last 11 games.

“This was just a good ballgame that was lost,” said Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon. “I have no problem with the way we played. Their guy [Tomlin] has been tough against us. He was sharp. Knowing that we have not been prodigious offensively probably gave him the confidence to throw more strikes.”

Luke Scott went 0 for 3 and set the Rays’ record by going 39 straight at-bats without a hit.