Indians 1, Rays 0
CLEVELAND -- David Murphy's sacrifice fly with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning drove in the winning run as the Cleveland Indians beat the Tampa Bay Rays 1-0 Sunday at Progressive Field.
Catcher Roberto Perez led off the bottom of the ninth with a single to left off right-hander Kevin Jepsen (1-5). Second baseman Jason Kipnis singled to right, extending his hitting streak to 15 games.
Perez went to third on the hit by Kipnis. Shortstop Francisco Lindor flied out to left for the first out.
Left fielder Michael Brantley was intentionally walked, loading the bases.
Designated hitter Murphy then hit a fly ball that was caught by center fielder Kevin Kiermaier, but Kiermaier's throw was a fraction of a second late to get the sliding Perez.
The win went to right-hander Cody Allen (1-2), who pitched the top of the ninth.
Right-hander Cody Anderson, in his major league debut, was very impressive. Anderson is the fifth pitcher to be tried in the No. 5 spot in the Cleveland rotation. He takes the spot of right-hander Shaun Marcum, who was designated for assignment last week.
In a combined 13 starts at Triple-A Columbus and Double-A Akron Anderson was 4-3 with a 1.89 ERA. Anderson did not throw like a pitcher making his major league debut. He pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings on six hits, with four strikeouts and one walk.
The Rays had a chance to score in the first inning when left fielder Joey Butler walked and stole second base. But with one out and Butler at second, Anderson struck out third baseman Evan Longoria and designated hitter David DeJesus to end that inning.
In the seventh inning, second baseman Logan Forsythe singled and went to second on a one-out single by right fielder Steven Souza. Shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera flied out to right field, with Forsythe advancing to third base. But then Anderson got the third out of the inning when he got first baseman Jake Elmore to ground into a forceout at second.
Right-hander Alex Colome started for Tampa Bay and he was even better than Anderson. Colome, who gave up six runs in two innings in his last start against Washington, breezed through the first five innings, retiring all 15 batters he faced.
When Colome retired third baseman Mike Aviles on a fly ball to center field leading off the sixth inning, that made it 16 consecutive batters retired by Colome.
With one out in the sixth inning center fielder Michael Bourn hit a sharp grounder to the right of first baseman Jake Elmore. Elmore got a glove on the ball, but it ricocheted to second baseman Forsythe, and the speedy Bourn reached first safely with what was ruled a single, which ended Colome's perfect game and no-hit bid.
Bourn went to second on a wild pitch, but Colome retired catcher Roberto Perez on a fly out to left for the second out. Colome intentionally walked second baseman Jason Kipnis, who came into the game leading the American League in hitting. Shortstop Francisco Lindor then flied out to left to end the inning.
With one out in the eighth, center fielder Kevin Kiermaier doubled into the left field corner and went to third on a groundout by Butler. Left-hander Marc Rzepczynski relieved Anderson and intentionally walked Longoria before striking out pinch hitter Nick Franklin to end the inning.
NOTES: The Indians recalled RHP Cody Anderson, who started the game in his major league debut. To make room on the roster, LHP Kyle Crockett was optioned to Triple-A Columbus. ... Indians C Yan Gomes, who has been bothered by a stiff neck, did not start Sunday. Gomes has not played in two of the last three games. ... At the start of play Sunday, the Rays had a major-league-best record of 21-11 on the road and the Indians had the second-lowest winning percentage in the majors at home, .382 (13-21).