Rookie Bo Naylor doubled home Gabriel Arias with the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, sending the Cleveland Guardians to a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night.
The Guardians trailed 2-1 entering the seventh, but Andrés Giménez led off with a single, stole second and came home on Arias’ single. Naylor followed with a drive to the wall in right-center off Rays starter Tyler Glasnow (7-5).
Tampa Bay had its four-game winning streak snapped and fell two games behind first-place Baltimore in the AL East. The Rays remain firmly in control of the top wild-card spot and have won eight of 10.
Eli Morgan (5-2) pitched the seventh and Emmanuel Clase gained his major league-high 37th save with a perfect ninth. Cleveland, which has won three in a row, trails Minnesota by five games in the AL Central.
One day earlier, the Guardians claimed pitchers Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo López and Matt Moore off waivers from the Angels in a final push for the postseason. Relievers López and Moore were in uniform for the series opener.
Guardians starter Cal Quantrill worked six innings in his return from the injured list, allowing two runs on two hits while striking out two. The right-hander had missed two months with inflammation in his pitching shoulder.
Glasnow matched his longest start of the season, going seven innings. The right-hander struck out six without issuing a walk, but remained winless in four career starts against Cleveland.
Randy Arozarena doubled off the wall in left in the first, plating Brandon Lowe, and René Pinto doubled in Jonathan Aranda in the second for Tampa Bay. The Guardians closed to 2-1 in the third on Kole Calhoun’s sacrifice fly.
Tampa Bay’s Yandy Díaz went 0 for 4, dropping his AL-leading batting average to .324.
