ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – For all the success Cleveland has enjoyed since the mid-90's, there's one little-known achievement that escaped the Indians until Sunday.

The win was the eighth straight for the team, the Indians' longest streak since April 1999, when they also won eight straight. They went 6-0 on the road trip that began in Kansas City.

"That's amazing. I thought we'd done that before," shortstop Omar Vizquel said. "It is hard to do. We played real good on this trip ... The bats came alive and we took advantage of the mistakes they made."

The Indians hit .335 and scored 57 runs in beating the Royals and Devil Rays. They outscored Tampa Bay 27-13 and have averaged seven runs per game in their last 22 meetings against the Devil Rays.

"We're doing a lot of things right. We're getting good pitching, we're getting good, timely hitting, and our defense has been good," first baseman Jim Thome said.

"When you have something like this going on, the best thing to do is not talk about it. Just do your thing and keep playing. We're on a roll, and really there's not much more to say."

Cordova's double off Doug Creek (1-1), broke a 1-all tie and extended his hitting streak to 12 games. Russ Branyan drew a bases-loaded walk and Einar Diaz delivered a two-run single before Kenny Lofton finished a six-run eighth with an RBI single.

Chuck Finley (3-2) limited the Devil Rays to Vinny Castilla's solo homer and four other hits in seven innings. He struck out eight and walked one while improving to 5-0 in six career starts against Tampa Bay.

Devil Rays manager Hal McRae and two of his players were ejected Saturday when three batters were hit by pitches during Cleveland's 9-4 victory, however there was no carry-over to the series finale.

Rekar hit Diaz with two outs, no runners on and scored tied 1-1 in the seventh inning. However, no warning was issued and there was no reaction from the Indians dugout.

Ryan Rupe, making his first career relief appearance, allowed Cordova's double before hitting Jacob Cruz in the leg to reload the bases. Branyan, the next batter, walked to drive in the third run in the eighth.

Rupe hit Cruz with another pitch in the ninth, when the Indians added three runs – one of them on Cordova's RBI single. Devil Rays pitchers led the AL in hit batsmen each of the past three seasons and have plunked a league-high 22 in 31 games this year.

"It was a tough situation for Rupe. It wasn't by design," McRae said. "I told him this one was on me ... I regret I boxed him in. There was no room for error."

Rupe, replaced in the starting rotation by Tanyon Sturtze, didn't have a problem with entering the game in a jam.

"I was pumped he put me in that situation. If you're going to do something the first time, you might as well go all the way. That was a good situation. I just made some bad pitches."

Castilla's homer was just his second since last May 27. His three-run shot against Toronto on April 4 ended the longest home run drought of his career at 172 at bats.

The Devil Rays third baseman has been in and out of the lineup ever since, going through an 0-for-28 skid in April and asking to be traded or released when rookie Aubrey Huff was promoted from Triple-A Durham to take his spot in the lineup.

The Indians scored 17 runs in winning the first two games of the series, but never really got themselves going against Rekar, who started the day with the worst run support (1.3 runs per nine innings) of any pitcher in the majors.

Thome's RBI double made it 1-1 in the fourth, however Cleveland was just 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position against Rekar, who allowed one run and five hits in seven innings.

Creek replaced Rekar at the start of the eighth and walked Omar Vizquel before giving up a double to Roberto Alomar and an intentional walk to load the bases with no outs.

Game notes
The Indians have gone 17-4 since starting the season 3-5. They are 11-4 on the road and have won 11 of their last 12 away from home. ... Cleveland OF Ellis Burks was held out of the lineup because of left shoulder discomfort. He jammed his shoulder last weekend diving back into second base. ... Tampa Bay's 107 runs are the fewest in the majors. ... Devil Rays DH Greg Vaughn has four hits and 13 strikeouts in his last 38 at-bats.

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