Rays' home winning streak snapped by Tribe

ST. PETERSBURG -- Sooner or later, the home winning streak had to end. After winning 12 consecutive games at Tropicana Field, that was the case Tuesday night when the Indians defeated the Rays, 2-0.
Tampa Bay's last loss at home prior to Tuesday night came on Aug. 8 against the Orioles, with over a month having passed since anything but celebration music had been heard in the home clubhouse after the game.
"It is weird," said shortstop Willy Adames. "That's part of the game, not every time you're going to win. We just have to bounce back tomorrow."
While the loss snapped the Rays' four-game winning streak, they have still won eight of their last 10 games. Unfortunately, they are running out of time. Their loss, combined with the A's 3-2 win at Baltimore, pushed the Rays back to 8 1/2 games behind Oakland in the American League Wild Card race with 18 games remaining.
"The season is almost over, but we've been playing really good ball," Adames said. "You're going to lose sometimes, even though we've been playing good. We're going to lose. But this is a good team. I know we're going to give our best tomorrow and try to get that win."
Tyler Glasnow pitched well in his eighth start since coming to the Rays at the July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline in the deal that sent Chris Archer to the Pirates. After allowing seven earned runs in two-thirds of an inning in his last outing at Toronto, Glasnow allowed six hits in seven innings Tuesday night. Unfortunately, two of those hits were solo home runs.
Yan Gomes homered in the fifth and Edwin Encarnacion followed suit in the sixth.

"Good to see Glasnow bounce back, that was really impressive on his part," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "Just filled up the strike zone. That's what we ask our guys to do. ... I thought Tyler was outstanding. Really impressed with the way he bounced back from a rough outing in Toronto."

Glasnow's velocity was down a tick Tuesday night, meaning his fastballs were more in the mid-90s range than upper-90s.
"Just one of those days," Glasnow said. "I don't know. I was really only working with the fastball, and the changeup helped me out today. The put-away stuff wasn't there with the curveball and slider today."
Cleveland starter Shane Bieber recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts while holding the Rays scoreless through 6 2/3 innings.

"Their guy was just as good [as Glasnow], probably a tick better," Cash said. "He had a lot of fastball life. Got a lot of back-foot slider, swing and misses. Takes on his breaking balls. Just a well-pitched game, all in all. We just came up short."
Tampa Bay's best scoring opportunity came when they loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh. Brad Hand fell behind in the count, 3-0 to Mallex Smith, but the left-hander worked the count back to 3-2 before retiring Smith on a pop out to end the threat.

PHAM 15
Tommy Pham extended his hitting streak to 15 games, the longest active streak in the Majors and the longest of his career. He has hit .403/.471/.694 over that span.

CASH EJECTED
Home-plate umpire Mark Carlson ejected Cash in the eighth inning when he argued a balk call against left-hander Vidal Nuno. The ejection handed Cash the eighth of his tenure as manager of the Rays, and the first since July 18, 2017, at Oakland.

"Just coming out, I knew [I couldn't argue a balk call]," Cash said. "I just wanted some clarification, whether balk or not. Probably not the biggest fan of the rule. I don't think that warrants an ejection, but I understand the rules in place. I have to follow them and I didn't."
DUFFY AND KIERMAIER CLOSE
Matt Duffy (back tightness) and Kevin Kiermaier (general sickness) are both improving.
Duffy drew a pinch-hit walk in the seventh, and Kiermaier was on-deck to pinch-hit when Jake Bauers flew out to end the game.
"They are feeling better," Cash said. "Duff swung today and felt good. Gave the thumbs up. He'll probably get another day tomorrow. Or won't start. Then I'll talk to KK about potentially playing tomorrow."
MITEL REPLAY OF THE DAY
Tampa Bay challenged in the fourth when Pham was called out attempting to steal second base. After a review of 49 seconds, the call was overturned and Pham had his 12th stolen base of the season.

UP NEXT
Blake Snell will start Wednesday when the Rays close out their three-game series with the Indians in a 1:10 p.m. ET contest at Tropicana Field. Snell has won six straight decisions, the longest streak of his career. Right-hander Carlos Carrasco will start for the Indians.