Indians 6, Rays 0

[April 15, 2016]  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Danny Salazar gave up three hits in six innings and Marlon Byrd, Rajai Davis and Jose Ramirez hit home runs as the Cleveland Indians beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-0 on Thursday at Tropicana Field.

Salazar improved to 2-0 and had nine strikeouts in a dominating performance against a punchless Rays lineup.

After four scoreless innings, the Indians (4-3) got on the board in the top of the fifth when Francisco Lindor hit an RBI single to left field that scored Roberto Perez and gave Cleveland a 1-0 lead.

Cleveland chased Rays starter Chris Archer in the top of the sixth after Byrd hit a two-run homer to right-center field to give the Indians a 3-0 lead.

Davis made it 4-0 with a home run in nearly the same place off Rays reliever Steve Geltz.

Tyler Naquin increased the lead to 5-0 with a RBI single to left that scored Mike Napoli, who reached on a ground-rule double to start the top of the seventh.

Ramirez added a home run in the top of the ninth off reliever Danny Farquhar.

Archer continued to struggle and is 0-3. He hasn't won a start since Aug. 31, 2015. He went 5 1/3 innings with six strikeouts but gave up seven hits and three runs (two earned) while throwing 105 pitches.

NOTES: Rays 1B Logan Morrison and SS Brad Miller, acquired from Seattle in a trade for RHP Nathan Karns and prospects, are a combined 4-for-48 going into Thursday's game. ... Rays starting pitchers have yet to post a win this season. ... Indians 3B Lonnie Chisenhall (wrist) and OF Michael Brantley (shoulder) will both drop from Triple-A Columbus to Double-A Akron as they continue their rehab assignments. Indians manager Terry Francona said the move was done as a matter of convenience. "We thought it would be good to keep them together," Francona said. "As long as we're not messing up the team too much, I saw some value in keeping them together."

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