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Cleveland Indians hitters lift struggling pitching in 8-7 victory over Tampa Bay Rays

By Jim Ingraham, The Sports Xchange
Star reliever Andrew Miller uncharacteristically gave up a run but the Indians held on to beat the Rays, 8-7 Monday night. File photo by Pat Benic/UPI
Star reliever Andrew Miller uncharacteristically gave up a run but the Indians held on to beat the Rays, 8-7 Monday night. File photo by Pat Benic/UPI | License Photo

CLEVELAND -- Three of the Cleveland Indians' best pitchers had uncharacteristically poor outings, but two home runs provided by their hitters led the way to an 8-7 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night at Progressive Field.

Lonnie Chisenhall and Francisco Lindor hit home runs on a night when Indians starter Carlos Carrasco left with an injury, and relievers Andrew Miller and Cody Allen gave up runs in the same game for the first time this season.

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Carrasco was removed from the game in the fourth inning with left pectoral tightness.

"Nobody thinks it's anything more than that, but he wasn't letting it go," said Indians manager Terry Francona of Carrasco, who in 3 2/3 innings gave up five runs on six hits and three walks. "We'll know more tomorrow but we're hoping a couple days will remedy it."

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Miller yielded a run for the first time this year, snapping his streak of 15 shutout appearances and 18 scoreless innings to start the season. A leadoff walk in the eighth inning eventually led to Logan Morrison's sacrifice fly off Miller to cut the Indians' lead to 7-6.

"There's a saying about leadoff walks, and it tends to be true. It wasn't good on my part to start the inning that way," said Miller, whose scoreless-innings streak was the longest by an Indians pitcher to start the season since Doug Jones pitched 20 consecutive scoreless innings to start the 1990 season.

"Miller is as good as any left-hander in baseball. But I really liked the at-bats we put up against him," said Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash.

Cleveland got that run back in the bottom of the eighth on a solo home run by Lindor, his ninth home run off the season, off Jumbo Diaz.

Boone Logan (1-0) got two outs in the middle innings and was credited with the win. Allen worked the ninth to pick up his 10th save despite giving up a solo home run to Peter Bourjos.

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Francona said he wasn't concerned about the hiccups by Miller and Allen.

"We'll take both of them any day of the week," he said.

Tampa Bay starter Chris Archer (3-2) gave up a five-run first inning and allowed seven runs (six earned) overall in five innings. He gave up five hits and six walks while striking out six.

"He never quite found his rhythm," said Cash. "He couldn't locate his pitches. He lost his command. You could tell it wasn't coming easy."

The Rays took a 1-0 lead on an RBI single by Morrison in the first inning.

In the bottom of the first, the Indians sent eight men to the plate, scoring five runs to open a 5-1 lead. With Lindor at second and Michael Brantley at first, a wild pitch by Archer allowed Lindor to move to third. Carlos Santana followed with a single to center field, scoring Lindor with the tying run.

Brantley moved to third on Santana's hit and scored when Edwin Encarnacion grounded into a forceout at second for the second out. Jose Ramirez drew a walk and Chisenhall then hit a 2-0 pitch over the wall in right field for a three-run homer, his fourth home run of the year, to make it 5-1.

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Kevin Kiermaier's solo home run in the second inning cut the Indians' lead to 5-2. Cleveland got the run back in the bottom of the inning when Abraham Almonte tripled and scored on a throwing error by Rays catcher Derek Norris, making it 6-2.

Steven Souza Jr.'s sacrifice fly in the third shaved the Indians' lead to 6-3, but it became 7-3 on an RBI double by Yan Gomes in the bottom of the third.

Carrasco was removed from the game after giving up an RBI single in the top of the fourth. Carrasco was relieved by Nick Goody, who gave up an RBI double to Evan Longoria, and the Indians' lead was down to 7-5.

"I was impressed with the way we battled back, against some really good pitchers," Cash said.

NOTES: For the first time this season, DH Edwin Encarnacion did not hit in the cleanup spot in the Indians' lineup. Encarnacion, who is hitting .198, was moved down to the No. 5 spot, and he went 0-for-5. 1B Carlos Santana replaced him at No. 4 and finished 2-for-4. Each had an RBI. ... Indians RHP Corey Kluber (lower back strain) threw a 20-pitch bullpen session Monday, but is still not close to coming off the disabled list. ... Indians OF Brandon Guyer, who was placed on the disabled list Sunday, is expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks. ... Rays 3B Evan Longoria needs three walks to pass Ben Zobrist (542) for the club's career record. Longoria also needs two at-bats to break Carl Crawford's club record (4,992). ... Tampa Bay's hitters lead the majors in strikeouts (425) and walks (165).

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