CLEVELAND _ Josh Tomlin was unable to halt the downward trend of the Indians' starting rotation.
Instead, the virtual home run derby the Tampa Bay Rays held this week continued on Wednesday afternoon in a 7-4 win over the Indians at Progressive Field.
Tomlin (2-5) was on a torrid pace to start the game, striking out five of the first six hitters he faced. That included the first two hitters of the second inning before it quickly unraveled on him.
Tim Beckham and Daniel Robertson each singled to put runners on the corners. Tomlin needed one more strike to get Jesus Sucre and escape the inning, but instead watched as an RBI double fell just inside the left-field foul line to put the Rays up 1-0.
Corey Dickerson then capped the two-out rally with a three-run home run to right field. It was his third home run in two games against the Indians, and gave the Rays an early 4-0 lead.
"They just did a good job of fighting off the tough pitches before that Dickerson at-bat to get on base," Tomlin said. "And then I made a mistake to him and they put up a crooked number, and then it was just tough to battle back from there."
In the third, Logan Morrison added a solo home run to center field to make it 5-0. It was the Rays' seventh home run off an Indians starting pitcher in the three-game series.
Later in the inning, with Dan Otero on the mound, Beckham added an RBI single to make it 6-0.
In the ninth, Sucre hit a solo home run off Shawn Armstrong _ the 10th home run by the Rays (21-22) in the series.
Tomlin's performance Wednesday pushed the Indians starting rotation's combined ERA to 5.15, the second-worst mark in the major leagues.
"I think that's the main thing, is we've got to do a better job as a unit," Tomlin said. "There's no sugarcoating it. There's no, 'It's early,' or anything like that. It's we need to do a better job from top to bottom. We've had some guys that have pitched good games, but we haven't strung together enough consistent outings as a group to give our team a chance to win, and that falls on us."
The Indians chipped away against Rays starting pitcher Alex Cobb (4-3) but, for the second consecutive day, ran out of time.
Wednesday's game did include the first chance for Indians fans to give an ovation to Bradley Zimmer, the organization's top prospect who was called up on Tuesday.
Zimmer, after striking out three times in his debut Tuesday night, came up with his first major league hit, an RBI double off the left-field wall to score Lonnie Chisenhall, who had doubled to lead off the third inning.
Zimmer then flashed his speed and used a head-first slide to beat Dickerson's throw from left field to the plate on a single by Jason Kipnis. Two innings later, Michael Brantley doubled home Francisco Lindor from first base to cut the Rays' lead to 6-3.
Zimmer's second day in the big leagues was made a little sweeter in the ninth. Facing Rays closer Alex Colome, Zimmer slugged the first home run _ a solo shot to center field _ of his major league career.
"I think (Tuesday), the game went by pretty quickly," Zimmer said. "But, I mean, there is a time where I kind of just let it all sink in. Just being here in the locker room I'll definitely have some moments where I've kind of taken a step back and realized what was going on. I'm looking forward to moving forward and starting to get some W's on the road."
The Indians (20-19) are off on Thursday before heading to Houston for a three-game series.
