Indians Top Tampa Bay Rays 7-3

(Photo credit: MGN Online)

CLEVELAND — It was a hot evening at Progressive Field for the Cleveland Indians (44-40), beating the Tampa Bay Rays (44-41) 7-3.

The Indians’ hitters came alive in the second inning, giving them a 3-0 lead with runs by Michael Brantley, Shelley Duncan and Lou Marson. The team added on two more in the third with runs by Asdrubal Cabrera and Jose Lopez.

The Rays would get on the board in the fourth inning thanks to a home run by Luke Scott, which also brought home Ben Zobrist.

The following innings yielded no runs for either team until the eighth, when Shelley Duncan slammed in a home run for the Indians and giving the Tribe a five point lead. The Rays didn’t go down without a fight, however. A home run by B.J. Upton in the ninth added a run to their score, but in the end it was not enough.

The Indians won game three of the four-game series with a final score of 7-3. The win puts them three games behind the Chicago White Sox in the American League Central Division.

The Indians finish their series with the Rays on Sunday with first pitch at 1:05 ET.

– FOX 8 intern David Hrvatin contributed to this report.