Cleveland @ Tampa Bay preview

Last Meeting ( May 18, 2010 ) Cleveland 2, Tampa Bay 6

Everything's clicking for the Tampa Bay Rays lately. On Wednesday night they even got a save from one of their most reliable starters.

With Rafael Soriano given the night off, Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon handed the ball to Matt Garza to close out the Rays' 6-4 win over the Boston Red Sox. The victory moved Tampa Bay 2 1/2 games ahead of Boston in the race for second place in the American League East standings.

The Rays, winners of five straight, play host to the Cleveland Indians in the first of a four-game series at St. Petersburg, Fla., heading into next week's All-Star break.

Tampa Bay took advantage of the injury-ravaged Red Sox to sweep its three-game series to start the week. The Rays won Monday's game 6-5 to move ahead of Boston in the standings. In the second game of the series Tampa Bay walked David Ortiz intentionally three straight times after cleanup hitter Kevin Youkilis left the lineup with an ankle injury and went on to a 3-2 win.

And on Wednesday, Maddon rolled the dice using Garza in the closer's role. It was Garza's first career save and his first relief appearance since 2007.

While Garza didn't look like a candidate to steal Soriano's job anytime soon, he did finish things off. Garza relied solely on his fastball and surrendered a hit and a walk before getting Youkilis to fly out to center field to end the game.

David Price notched the win, allowing two runs on eight hits in 7 2/3 innings. He struck out 10. Price, a leading candidate to start the All-Star game, improved to 12-4 on the season with a 2.42 ERA and leads the AL in victories.

The Rays take aim at their sixth straight win Thursday with Wade Davis on the mound. Davis (5-9) has been the least reliable of the Tampa Bay starters. He has lost five straight decisions and hasn't notched a win since defeating the Chicago White Sox on May 29.

Davis has lost two straight 2-1 decisions. Against the San Diego Padres he allowed five walks in 4 2/3 innings to take the loss. In his next start Davis surrendered a two-run homer in the fifth inning to Gerald Parra of the Arizona Diamondbacks in another 2-1 setback.

Cleveland, mired in last place in the AL Central, will counter with Jake Westbrook (5-4). Westbrook, the subject of trade rumors, has had an up-and-down season after missing the entire 2009 campaign. The Indians have won his last two starts.

Cleveland is playing without outfielder Shin-Soo Choo who his hoping to avoid surgery on a sprained right thumb. First baseman Matt LaPorta missed Wednesday's game after taking an elbow to the head the day before. His status is uncertain.

Cleveland has lost two straight.