CLEVELAND _ Don't worry about making another call, at least for now, to free-agent Dallas Keuchel, or ringing up old buddy James Shields.
Hold off on making any trade offers for Madison Bumgarner, Marcus Stroman, Noah Syndergaard or any of the other veteran starters sure to be available.
Ryan Yarbrough showed up in Cleveland to take a spot in the Rays short-staff pitching rotation, and showed the Rays, on Thursday anyway, he could be the arm they need to get through the next six weeks, and maybe beyond.
His career-high strong 7 1/3 innings on the mound, backed by four homers from his mates, resulted in a 7-2 win over the Indians.
Yarbrough looked a lot like he did last year when, as a rookie and often pitching behind an opener, he won 16 games and posted a solid 3.91 ERA.
Which is to say he didn't anything like he did earlier this season when, after a disjointed spring, he struggled through most of five appearances, compiling an ERA near four digits and sent to Triple-A on April 25.
Thursday, he mixed his pitches, worked quickly and he got outs, 16 of the first 17 Indians to be specific.
He made the start, and after allowing only a single through the first five innings, got into this only bit of trouble for the night in the sixth, right after the Rays extended a 3-0 lead to 7-0.
With one out, Yarbrough gave up a single to Oscar Mercado, another with two outs to Jason Kipnis, then walked Carlos Santana to load the bases and allowed a two-run double Jordan Luplow.
The Rays seemed determined to have him at least get through the sixth, and when reliever Chaz Roe finally did start warming up, Yarbrough got Jose Ramirez to ground out for the third out.
Yarbrough ended up working into the eighth, throwing 99 pitches, and matching Yonny Chirinos' 7 1/3 innings in Baltimore as the longest start by a Ray this season. Yarbrough allowed four hits and one walk and struck out four.
"It's nice to have him back," Rays manager Kevin Cash said before the game. "We can't forget how important he was and how good he was for us last year. I know he got off to a little bit of a rough start, but give Yarbs lots of credit for going down there and getting himself in a little better spot. He's thrown the ball really well and we're hoping he can pick up where he left off in Durham."
The Rays (29-18) did what they could to make the assignment easier for Yarbrough.
Tommy Pham and Avisail Garcia gave him a first inning lead with homers, the second straight day both went deep. Willy Adames, who finished a triple shy of a cycle, added another homer in the second. And Kevin Kiermaier, who also hit a homer on Wednesday vs. the Dodgers, ended up with a three-run inside-the-parker with a shot to left-center that Cleveland outfielders Leonys Martin and Mercado collided on.
The four-game series continues Friday night, with Blake Snell on the mound for the Rays and Shane Bieber for the Indians.
