The Cleveland Guardians bounced back from a 14-inning scoring drought and two losses with two strong pitching performances and two wins.

Ben Lively pitched five innings of shutout ball to lead Cleveland to a 2-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday afternoon.

Don’t look now, but Cleveland has another powerful weapon the bullpen. Tim Herrin joined the usual suspects (Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis, and Emmanuel Clase) to complete the shutout.

Herrin struck out two batters in a scoreless sixth inning and lowered his ERA to 1.96.

Four dominating arms in the bullpen will come in handy in October.

JUST ENOUGH OFFENSE

Brayan Rocchio put the Guardians on the board with a bloop single to score Daniel Schneemann in the second inning.

Angel Martinez scored the other run in the fifth. He raced home while Jose Ramirez was caught trying to steal second base.

Tampa Bay starter Taj Bradley lost his seventh decision in a row to drop to 6-11. He dominated the Guardians (and the league) early in the season, only to fall on hard times.

DIVISION RACE

Kansas City lost to Pittsburgh, so the Royals are four games behind Cleveland in the AL Central.

The Minnesota Twins, who are 6½ games back, are in Cleveland to start a four-game series tonight at 6:40. Matthew Boyd (2-1) will start for the Guardians against Twins ace Pablo Lopez (15-8).