Rays Win Weekend Series Over Indians with 6-4 Sunday Victory; Three Takeaways

CLEVELAND - The Cleveland Indians fell Sunday afternoon in a late afternoon affair to the Tampa Bay Rays 6-4. With the loss the Indians fall to 77-59 on the

CLEVELAND - The Cleveland Indians fell Sunday afternoon in a late afternoon affair to the Tampa Bay Rays 6-4.

With the loss the Indians fall to 77-59 on the season. The Rays, who are playing well right now, improve to 73-63 on the year.

Carlos Carrasco took his eighth loss on the season, as he drops to 16-8 with the setback. The Rays win the weekend affair as they take two of out three games.

Here are three takeaways from Sunday's ballgame.

1. Ryan Yarbrough

Young righty Diego Castillo started the game for the Rays, and he only ended up pitching to four batters before he was removed, which was the plan by manager Kevin Cash.

The Rays went to their pen in the second, calling on lefty Ryan Yarbrough, who kept the Tribe at bay and threw a stellar game to get the win.

He kept the Indians offense off balance and locating his pitches when he needed to. Here is Yarbrough’s stat line:

Line: 5 innings, 2 hits, 1 earned run, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, 3.68 ERA

2. Indians Offense Struggling

Since the Indians most recent off day (Monday August 27th, 2018), the Tribe has scored no more than four runs except for one game.

That game was first game back from the off day when they scored eight runs against the Twins.

The Indians had a chance to get back into the game in the eighth inning, but scored one run off a Jose Ramirez single to right field. First baseman Yonder Alonso would ground into an inning-ending double-play after that.

The team did rally for a couple in the 9th, but with Jason Kipnis at the plate with the game-tying run, he struck out to end the game.

Jason Kipnis K’s to end the #Indians 9th inning threat - #Rays win it 6-4 - #Royals in town for a 4:10 Labor Day game tomorrow pic.twitter.com/Deeonv4Duy

— Matt Loede (@MattLoede) September 2, 2018

3. Carrasco Uneven Start

Indians starter Carlos Carrasco was pitching decent into seventh inning, as he had allowed two runs heading into that inning.

It unraveled for “Cookie” in the 7th, as he would give up three runs that put him in line for his eighth loss on the season. Here’s Carrasco stat line:

Line: 6.1 innings, 9 hits, 5 earned runs, 2 walks, 9 strikeouts, 2 home runs, 3.52 ERA

The Indians will host the Kansas City Royals on a Labor Day afternoon game at 4:10pm Monday. This is the first game of a three-game series.