Rookie flirts with perfect game as Indians end skid

Indians 7, Rays 1

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Rookie Cody Anderson took a bid for a perfect game into the seventh inning in his second major league start, and the struggling Cleveland Indians snapped a three-game losing streak with a 7-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night.

Anderson (1-0) didn't allow a baserunner until Grady Sizemore homered against his old team on a 1-2 pitch with one out in the seventh. Evan Longoria followed with a single before the 24-year-old right-hander settled to retire the last four batters he faced.

Yan Gomes had three hits, including a home run in the eighth for the Indians, who limped into town after being shut out in both games of a doubleheader at Baltimore on Sunday. Michael Brantley also had three hits, including a RBI single, and Jason Kipnis drove in a run off rookie Nathan Karns (4-4) with one of his three hits.

Anderson, who limited Tampa Bay to six hits over 7 2/3 scoreless innings in his big league debut at Progressive Field on June 21, struck out two without a walk in eight innings. He threw 100 pitches.

It was the second time in less than a week that an opposing pitcher has flirted with a perfect game against the Rays. Toronto's Marco Estrada took a bid into the eighth inning on June 24 before giving up an infield single to Logan Forsythe in a game the Blue Jays eventually won 1-0 in 12 innings.

Karns also started that game for Tampa Bay, which has lost five of seven.

Cleveland manager Terry Francona held a team meeting at Tropicana Field on Monday afternoon to "remind guys of what we stand for," and it didn't take the Indians long to begin putting a string of 19 consecutive scoreless innings behind them.

Kipnis doubled on the third pitch of the game and scored on Brantley's single. The Cleveland lead-off man then singled in the second, driving in Gomes for a 2-0 lead.

The rocky start for Karns came on the heels of his strongest performance of the season. The 27-year-old right-hander didn't allow a hit until the sixth inning against Toronto last Wednesday, but the Rays were unable to take advantage of the outing because Estrada was even better for the Blue Jays.

The Indians put together nine hits in six innings against the Tampa Bay starter, but couldn't give Anderson a bigger cushion to work with because they went 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position while Karns was on the mound. The Indians pulled away late when Gomes homered off Kirby Yates and then added four more runs in the ninth -- two on wild pitches.

Sizemore, playing in his second game since joining the Rays, trimmed Cleveland's lead to 2-1 with his first home run since last Sept. 3 for Philadelphia. A three-time All-Star early in his career with the Indians, Sizemore had three hits in his Tampa Bay debut on Sunday.

ASTROS 6, ROYALS 1 Chris Carter and Jose Altuve homered to back a solid start by rookie Lance McCullers, and host Houston beat Kansas City, snapping the Royals' four-game winning streak. McCullers (4-2) allowed 4 hits and 1 run with 6 strikeouts in 7 innings in his ninth major league start.

RED SOX 3, BLUE JAYS 1 Clay Buchholz pitched eight strong innings to win his third consecutive start, Xander Bogaerts drove in two runs and visiting Boston beat Toronto. Buchholz (6-6) improved to 10-3 with a 2.21 ERA in 15 career starts in Toronto as the Red Sox won back-to-back games for the first time since June 19.

RANGERS 8, ORIOLES 1 Mitch Moreland hit two of the Rangers' four home runs off Bud Norris, and visiting Texas got another winning effort on the road from left-hander Wandy Rodriguez in a victory over Baltimore. Moreland hit a solo shot in the second inning and a two-run drive in the fourth. It was his sixth career two-home run game, the first since May 2013.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

BREWERS 7, PHILLIES 4 Jonathan Lucroy had four of the Brewers' season high-tying 16 hits and drove in two runs, leading visiting Milwaukee to a victory over Philadelphia in a matchup of the two worst teams in baseball. Ryan Braun had three hits with a double and an RBI, and Adam Lind and Aramis Ramirez each had two RBI for the Brewers, who have won five of seven. Cesar Hernandez had two hits and an RBI for Philadelphia. The Phillies fell to a major league-worst 27-51.

Interleague

REDS 11, TWINS 7 Billy Hamilton scored three times in the first three innings to help host Cincinnati open a huge lead, and the Reds held on against Minnesota. The Reds sent 10 batters to the plate for five runs and a 9-1 lead in the third inning, when Mike Pelfrey (5-5) failed to retire any of the four batters he faced. Pelfrey gave up 8 runs -- matching his season high -- and 9 hits, retiring only 6 of 17 batters.

Sports on 06/30/2015

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