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Byrd continues strong road showing as Indians down Rays

Aug 18, 2007 - 3:59 AM ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- Coming off a rough homestand, the Cleveland Indians found the perfect solution to return to their winning ways: a visit to Florida.

Paul Byrd pitched six strong innings leading the Indians to a 2-1 victory against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

The Indians came to Tampa Bay having lost four of their last five games at home to fall out of first place in the American League Central, but Byrd (11-5) was up to the task to get his team back on track, improving to 5-2 with a 2.77 ERA on the road.

"It was a total team effort," Byrd said. "When you win, it's a great feeling. Our team has been through some adversity and has done a great job."

Until Carl Crawford's RBI single in the fifth, the 36-year-old Byrd had not allowed a run on the road in 13 innings after tossing a shutout against the Twins at the Metrodome in his last road start on August 6. Byrd, who leads the majors in fewest walks per nine innings, walked only one and struck out five, permitting one run and eight hits over six innings.

Closer Joe Borowski followed Rafael Perez and Rafael Betancourt, who tossed two scoreless frames, in the ninth to post his 34th save in 38 chances.

"We hit the ball and got a lot of people on base," Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said. "We have to do a better job with guys in scoring position and we have to use the whole field. We're finding ways to win the ballgames."

Ryan Garko and Asdrubal Cabrera accounted for Cleveland's two runs as the Indians' won their sixth consecutive game against Tampa Bay.

Edwin Jackson (3-12) continued to pitch better than his record, but still suffered the loss after yielding two runs and seven hits in six innings.

"All you can worry about is what you have control of," Jackson said of Tampa Bay's lack of offense. "And that's throwing the ball over the plate. It's one of those days you have to dig deep."

In his last 21 innings coming into the contest, the righthander had allowed only two earned runs and in six of his 12 losses, the Devil Rays have scored one run or less. Crawford had two hits for the Devil Rays, who is 13-35 since June 25.

"Situational hitting is hurting us," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "I hope to see improvement. The ball just seems to be dying on us. It borders on being a mortal sin to waste pitching like that."