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Indians-Rays Preview

May 16, 2010 - 10:41 PM By MATT BEARDMORE STATS Writer

Cleveland (14-20) at Tampa Bay (25-11), 7:10 p.m. EDT

Since his first start of the season was cut short, Jeff Niemann has logged plenty of innings for the Tampa Bay Rays.

Niemann looks for another quality outing when the Rays open a two-game home series against the resurgent Cleveland Indians on Monday night.

Niemann (3-0, 2.27 ERA) lasted just 1 1/3 innings after being hit on the right shoulder by a line drive May 8 in his 2010 debut, but has pitched at least seven innings in five of his six starts since.

"That's been hammered into our heads since spring training, that the starters go deep into the game," Niemann said after surrendering two runs over 7 1/3 innings of a 7-2 win over Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Opponents are batting .203 and are 0 for 12 with two outs and runners in scoring position against the right-hander.

Despite leading the AL East, the Rays (26-11) may need Niemann to turn in another dominant outing with the way they have struggled to score runs.

Tampa Bay hit .193 and scored eight times against visiting Seattle over the weekend, but took two of three with consecutive comeback wins. After scoring three unanswered runs in the final two innings of a 3-2 victory Saturday, the Rays scored in the seventh and eighth for a 2-1 win Sunday.

"We're coming through when we need to," said left fielder Carl Crawford, who led off the eighth with a triple and scored the winning run on Gabe Kapler's sacrifice fly in the finale. "We'll take that, but we're definitely going to have to help (the starters) out at some point."

While the Rays are trying to get their offense in gear, the Indians (15-20) are showing some pop at the plate. Matt LaPorta and Russell Branyan hit two-run homers and the Indians won 5-1 at Baltimore on Sunday.

Cleveland has taken back-to-back series for the first time since August.

"We definitely need to win some series, and this is a step in the right direction," manager Manny Acta said.

Cleveland has scored 5.3 runs per game in winning five of seven. The Indians will try to give that kind of support to Fausto Carmona (4-1, 3.43), who is looking to match his win total from last season.

The right-hander improved to 3-0 with a 1.96 ERA on the road Wednesday, giving up five hits in five innings of a 4-0 win over Kansas City. Carmona stranded seven runners through four innings, and opponents are batting .196 against him with men in scoring position.

"You've got to give credit to Fausto," Acta told the Indians' official website. "He had good life on his fastball, and he kept it in on those guys and was able to get popups."

Carmona is 2-1 with a 7.56 ERA in four starts against the Rays.

Tampa Bay has won three straight and five of six at home against Cleveland.