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Tampa Bay bedevils Indians

Tampa Bay shortstop Julio Lugo bobbles a potential double-play ball after forcing Jhonny Peralta at second base Tuesday. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press
Tampa Bay shortstop Julio Lugo bobbles a potential double-play ball after forcing Jhonny Peralta at second base Tuesday. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

CLEVELAND – The Indians lost the game, but didn’t lose any ground.

Cleveland came up short of a comeback against Tampa Bay, losing 5-4 Tuesday night to remain two games behind first-place Chicago in the American League Central. The Indians lead the wild-card standings but have the same record as Boston and New York, who are tied atop the A.L. East.

The Indians, who trailed the White Sox by 15 games on Aug. 1, promised to do what they have done all year – put the loss behind them and move on.

“We’ll just come back tomorrow and go at it again,” Indians outfielder Coco Crisp said.

Scott Kazmir (10-9) held Cleveland to one run in six innings and Julio Lugo hit a three-run homer as Tampa Bay built a five-run lead.

“We couldn’t get to Kazmir. He was the story,” Indians manager Eric Wedge said.

Former Indians pitcher Danys Baez got Ronnie Belliard to hit into a game-ending double play with the tying run on third, handing Cleveland consecutive losses for the first time since Sept. 3-4 at Minnesota.

“We knew Cleveland would come back at us. What a big double play at the end,” Tampa Bay manager Lou Piniella said. “This is a good win against a team that’s really been playing great.”

The announcement of Chicago’s 3-2 loss drew one of the biggest cheers of the night. The Indians noticed as well, but downplayed their scoreboard watching.

“If we watched as much as you guys would like us to watch, we wouldn’t have time to play the game,” Wedge told reporters.

The Indians have struggled against Tampa Bay this season, getting swept in a three-game series at Jacobs Field in mid-August. They have two games remaining against the Devil Rays before a three-game home series against Chicago to finish the season.

“We need to remember the adversity that we overcame this year,” Indians right fielder Casey Blake said. “Hopefully, that will help us the next five games.”

Cleveland staged a comeback on RBI doubles by pinch-hitter Ben Broussard and Blake in the eighth inning off Joe Borowski. But Borowski struck out Grady Sizemore to end the threat.

Baez allowed Victor Martinez’s RBI single to center in the ninth before earning his 40th save in 48 chances.

Kazmir walked five but worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the second and left another two stranded in the third.

He allowed one run and four hits to improve to 4-1 in September. He gave up eight runs in 2 1/3 innings in his last appearance against Cleveland on Aug. 25.

“We all know their situation,” Kazmir said. “We came in here knowing we’re facing a very hot team with a lot on the line. That’s why this was a good win. But we’ve been playing all the contenders very tough for the last couple months.”

Last-place Tampa Bay has a winning record against the Indians, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Angels and Oakland A’s.

Scott Elarton (11-8) fell to 0-3 against the Devil Rays this season after allowing five runs and 10 hits in five innings. He had been Cleveland’s top pitcher this month, going 4-0 in his last four starts with three earned runs.

“For whatever reason, I just had a hard time with these guys,” Elarton said.

Lugo’s homer in the fourth inning made it 4-0, and Alex Gonzalez hit his ninth home run in the sixth. Aaron Boone’s two-out RBI single in the sixth made it 5-1.