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Price hopes for a win against Cleveland

Apr 7, 2013 - 1:47 PM (Sports Network) - Reigning American League Cy Young Award winner David Price can stay unbeaten for his career against the Cleveland Indians Sunday when the Tampa Bay Rays host them in the finale of a three-game series at Tropicana Field.

Price, the first overall pick in the 2007 draft, is 5-0 in six starts against Cleveland while allowing just a .163 opposition batting average in 38 1/3 innings of work. He's given up just 22 hits and seven earned runs while walking 17 batters and striking out 42.

The 27-year-old was 20-5 in 31 starts for the Rays last season while posting a 2.56 ERA in 211 innings to win the award over nearest voting pursuers Justin Verlander and Jered Weaver.

Price opened 2013 with a no-decision in his first start after pitching six innings of two-run ball with four strikeouts in a game the Rays lost, 7-4, to the Baltimore Orioles on April 2.

He'll be faced by Cleveland righty Justin Masterson, who goes for a second straight victory after beginning his 2013 run with a win at Toronto. The 28- year-old allowed three hits and a run with five strikeouts in six innings of a 4-1 defeat of the Blue Jays on April 2.

It was the 40th win in a major-league career that began in 2008, two years after he was drafted in the second round by the Boston Red Sox.

He was 9-8 in 67 appearances with the Red Sox, then came to Cleveland in a July 2009 deal for Victor Martinez and had won 30 times in 113 appearances through the end of 2012.

In 13 career meetings with the Rays, Masterson is 1-7 with a 7.74 ERA in 52 1/3 innings.

On Saturday, the Rays made it two straight wins in this series on Saturday, as Alex Cobb tossed 7 1/3 outstanding innings in a 6-0 victory.

Cobb (1-0) yielded just four singles and three walks while recording six strikeouts before exiting after throwing 103 pitches. The young right-hander retired 15 of the final 18 batters he faced.

Counterpart Trevor Bauer (0-1), on the other hand, struggled mightily with his command in a substitute start for the injured Scott Kazmir. The highly regarded prospect walked seven hitters -- including six over the first three innings -- and was reached for three runs over five frames.

Kelly Johnson gave Cobb all the support he needed with a two-run homer off Bauer in the fourth inning, with James Loney providing some insurance via a two-RBI double in the eighth.

Loney finished 2-for-4 in the victory.

The teams split eight games in 2012, including four at Tropicana Field.