CLEVELAND — Lane Thomas and José Ramírez hit back-to-back eighth-inning homers and Joey Cantillo pitched five scoreless innings as the AL Central-leading Cleveland Guardians beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-1 on Saturday night.
The Guardians remained three games ahead of second-place Kansas City in the division with 13 games remaining. Cleveland has the best home record in the AL at 44-27 and is 85-64 overall, second in the league to the New York Yankees.
Josh Naylor’s two-run single through a drawn-in infield ignited a three-run sixth that extended Cleveland’s lead to 4-0. David Fry added a sacrifice fly off Tyler Alexander (6-5), scoring Ramírez, who had been intentionally walked for a franchise-record 88th time.
Thomas and Ramírez tacked on solo homers in the eighth against Hunter Bigge.
Cantillo (2-3) gave up three hits, walked one and struck out six in his sixth start in the majors. The left-hander threw 6 2/3 perfect innings — and worked a career-high seven — in earning his first win Monday at the White Sox.
Junior Caminero had a career-high three doubles for Tampa Bay, driving in the team’s only run in the eighth. The Rays fell to 4-5 on a 10-game trip through Baltimore, Philadelphia and Cleveland and are six back for the third AL wild card.
Cleveland went ahead 1-0 in the sixth on Brayan Rocchio’s double to right, scoring Andrés Giménez. Jhonkensy Noel also attempted to come home, but was thrown out on a relay from second baseman José Caballero.
Tampa Bay appeared to score in the fifth on Jose Siri’s single, but a replay review overturned the safe call at home on Josh Lowe. Thomas’ throw and Austin Hedges’ tag just beat Lowe’s left hand to the plate.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rays: 2B Christopher Morel (right Achilles discomfort) was held out of the lineup one day after being removed in the third inning in Cleveland. Manager Kevin Cash said Morel “feels better now than he did when he came out of the game.”
Guardians: OF Steven Kwan (mid-low back tightness), who was a late scratch Friday, is considered day to day and will not be placed on the injured list. The All-Star left fielder underwent medical tests that revealed no structural damage.
UP NEXT
Rays RHP Taj Bradley (6-10, 4.40 ERA) takes on Guardians RHP Ben Lively (11-9, 4.01 ERA) in the four-game series finale. Lively was struck on his right leg by Dominic Fletcher’s liner in his last start Tuesday at the White Sox, exiting after 1 2/3 innings.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
