Tampa Bay @ Cleveland preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 24, 2010 ) Tampa Bay 6, Cleveland 3

Tampa Bay finally ended one curse in Cleveland. With another victory, the Rays can return home with a winning road trip.

The Rays wind up a nine-game trip Sunday with the finale of a three-game series against the Indians. Tampa is 4-4 on a trip that has taken them to New York, Baltimore and Cleveland.

Wade Davis (7-9) goes for Tampa in the series finale, having pitched better than his record would indicate.

In his first full season in the rotation, Davis has allowed two runs or fewer in four of his last five starts. He has followed a five-game losing streak by winning each of his last two starts.

Since Texas pounded him for eight runs in 3 1-3 innings on June 4, Davis has a 3.56 ERA. He has walked 14 and struck out 26 over that stretch despite just a 2-4 record.

He beat the Tribe at home on July 8, allowing a pair of solo homers in seven innings. The Rays haven’t been as fortunate at Progressive Field, with their victory on Saturday ending an 18-game losing streak that stretched back to the end of the 2005 season.

Ben Zobrist and Carlos Pena both homered in Saturday’s victory. Zobrist’s homer was just his sixth of the season after he hit a career-high 27 last year, while Pena’s average is still hovering around .200 despite 21 homers and 61 RBIs.

The Indians have won seven of their last nine to climb within a game of Kansas City for fourth place in the American League Central Division. The Indians are still 12 1/2 games behind the first-place White Sox and seemingly playing for next year.

A victory on Sunday would get the Indians back to .500 this season at home, just in time for a four-game series with the AL-leading Yankees.

Justin Masterson, who has one victory since pitching a complete game shutout against Boston on June 9, will start for the Indians. Masterson has made it through the seventh in just one of his last six starts. He has struggled against the Rays, going 1-2 in four starts with a 7.04 ERA.

The Indians managed just four hits off Rays pitching Saturday and Shin-Soo Choo had half of them. Choo is 3-for-6 in two games since returning from injury.

Rookie slugger Carlos Santana, one of baseball’s best prospects, is hitless in his last nine at-bats. Santana was batting .345 through the end of June, but has cooled to just .217 in July to go with a pair of homers and five RBIs. Santana’s average has dropped to .280 with the slump.