Ryan Pepiot allowed just two hits over six strong innings and Jose Siri and Brandon Lowe hit solo homers as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Cleveland Guardians 2-0 on Sunday in St. Petersburg, Fla. Siri went deep in the third and Lowe did the same in the sixth, both off Cleveland starter Ben Lively (8-5), who allowed just one other hit, two walks and struck out seven over 5 1/3 innings.
However, Pepiot (6-5) was even better, yielding only a single to right by Angel Martinez and an infield single by Andres Gimenez for two of Cleveland's four hits, while winning back-to-back starts for the first time this season. Pete Fairbanks (17 saves) allowed singles to Steven Kwan and Martinez to open the ninth. But he got Jose Ramirez to pop out to first base, Josh Naylor to line out to center field and then ended the game on David Fry's fly ball just shy of the warning track in left field that was snagged by Randy Arozarena.
With the victory, Tampa Bay took two of three in the series and heads into the All-Star break at 48-48. The Guardians lead the American League Central at 58-37 and have the AL's best record -- but have lost 11 of their last 18. Tampa Bay opened the scoring in the bottom of the third when Siri jumped on the first pitch of the inning, sending the ball well into the left field seats for his 12th homer.
Meanwhile, Pepiot continued to cruise. He ended up striking out four, facing 21 batters and throwing 81 pitches. Lively's next mistake came when he served up a ball that Lowe.