ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Blake Snell took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and got his major league-leading 19th win, leading the Tampa Bay Rays over the Cleveland Indians 3-1 on Wednesday.
Snell (19-5) lost his bid when Jose Ramirez led off the seventh with his 38th homer. Snell won his team-record seventh straight start, striking out nine and walking two in seven innings. He has allowed two earned runs or fewer in 16 consecutive home starts.
Chaz Roe and Jose Alvarado each got three outs, completing a one-hitter. Alvarado got his eighth save in 11 chances.
Cleveland's magic number to clinch a third consecutive AL Central title remained at three.
Ji-Man Choi hit a two-run homer in the first off Carlos Carrasco (16-9), then took a well-inside pitch from Carrasco in the sixth and briefly stared at the mound. Choi hit a winning homer off Brad Hand in the ninth inning on Monday night.
Cleveland's Edwin Encarnacion stared and shook his head after a high and inside pitch from Snell in the fourth.
The Rays closed within eight games of Oakland for the second AL wild card with 17 games left. The Athletics were scheduled to play at Baltimore on Wednesday night, then open a three-game series at Tampa Bay on Friday night.
Carrasco (16-9) gave up three runs and six hits in seven innings.
Josh Donaldson, acquired by Cleveland from Toronto on Aug. 31, hit into a double play as a pinch-hitter in the eighth. He went 0 for 4 Tuesday in his Cleveland debut, his first big league game since May 28
Cleveland center fielder Jason Kipnis, left fielder Michael Brantley, catcher Yan Gomes and first baseman Yonder Alonso were also rested.
Tommy Pham extended his career-best hitting streak to 16 games with a two-out infield single in the first and scored on Choi's drive to center field.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Indians: Donaldson is to start at third base on Friday.
Rays: CF Kevin Kiermaier didn't provide details for what the team called a "general illness" that kept him out the lineup the previous two games. "Time to rest really helped," said Kiermaier, who had a fourth-inning sacrifice fly and tripled during the sixth.
UP NEXT
Indians: RHP Josh Tomlin (1-5) is to face Detroit LHP Matthew Boyd (9-12) on Friday night.
Rays: Tampa Bay had not announced a Friday starter. The Rays took three of four from the Athletics in Oakland from May 28-31.