Nagy Sharp In Tribe's Win

There was just something that felt right to Charles Nagy when he went out Saturday to pitch against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Maybe he could sense it's time to get ready for the playoffs.

Nagy shut out Tampa Bay on four hits through eight innings and Harold Baines had an RBI single as the Cleveland Indians won 3-0.

Nagy (14-9) walked three and struck out six, while Bobby Witt (7-11) lost his 11th straight decision against Cleveland, a streak dating back to 1991.

The Indians' third straight win kept them even with New York for the best record in the American League. The Yankees beat Seattle 2-1 Saturday.

"I felt good when I woke up today. I don't really know how to explain it. Some days you go out there and you have everything working," Nagy said.

"You want to go out and give your team a chance to win every time, but when the season draws to an end you want to be throwing well. I've been throwing the ball, in my mind, very well the second half. You try to keep that going through the end of the season," he said.

Indians manager Mike Hargrove considered letting Nagy try for his second complete game of the season.

"I felt that Charlie had done his job," Hargrove said. "Had we gone into that with a four-run lead, Charlie would have finished the game. A three-run lead, that's Mike Jackson's job, especially late in the season. My heart was arguing with my head to let him finish the game, but my head won out."

Baines, acquired on Friday from the Baltimore Orioles, drove in Roberto Alomar in the sixth with a single. In his first game with Cleveland on Friday nigh, he drove in both runs in the Indians' 2-1 victory over the Devil Rays.

Carlos Baerga drove in Cleveland's first run in the second with a sharp single to right following walks to Jim Thome and David Justice.

Manny Ramirez singled in Omar Vizquel in the eighth, his 131st RBI of the season.

"My job was to try and keep those big hitters at bay, but Nagy was just too tough," Witt said. "I pitched OK, but you are never happy with any loss."

The Devil Rays loaded the bases against Nagy with two outs in the second, but Terrell Lowery struck out to end the threat. Dave Martinez opened the sixth with a double down the right field line, but he advanced no further.

"We did not have many chances today against Nagy," said Devil Rays manager Larry Rothschild. "We hit a lot of weak fly balls and weak grounders, and then Jackson came in and closed it out. To come into this ballpark and score one run in two games is not going to get it done."

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