ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – At first, it looked like Josh Tomlin was the problem.

For one inning he was, because by the time that inning was over, the Rays had more than enough runs, as they beat the Indians 5-0 Friday night at Tropicana Field.

But this loss was a team effort. As in the entire lineup had no clue how to squeeze a run out of left-hander David Price, who came into the game with modest 5-4 record and 3.89 ERA.

Regardless of the numbers, Price is regarded as the ace of the staff. As far as the Indians are concerned, he absolutely ranks No. 1.

“He was the same like always,” said Orlando Cabrera, who singled and walked. “He’s kind of tough for a lot of the guys. He controls both sides of the plate, and he mixes up his pitches pretty well. The left-handed guys in our lineup hit lefties pretty good. But Price is one of the guys at the top.”

Price (6-4, 3.54 ERA) has faced the Indians twice this season, and it’s been a mismatch each time, particularly Friday night, when he established a career best in strikeouts with 12. He delivered eight masterful innings, allowing four hits and two walks.

Only three runners reached second against Price, and he ended five innings with strikeouts, not taking any chances on his patsies making contact when there might be a runner or two on base. Actually, in only one inning, did he allow two baserunners.

Manager Manny Acta doesn’t think his club is more vulnerable to Price than other teams.

“He’s just very good,” Acta said. “I don’t think it has anything to do with our lineup. He’s a left-hander who throws in the mid-90s. When he commands that cutter and curveball (in addition to his fastball), he can do anything he wants.

“The last time he faced us, he threw mostly fastballs. Tonight, he threw all his pitches.”

Matt LaPorta was Price’s primary victim, striking out four times.

“He knew in my second at-bat that I wasn’t hitting the fastball very well, so he kept throwing it,” LaPorta said.

To add insult to injury, Tampa Bay defenders executed three saving plays: Sam Fuld made a tough catch on Michael Brantley’s liner to left in the third inning; shortstop Sean Rodriguez took a hit away from Austin Kearns with a diving stop in the fifth, and Fuld ran about three miles to catch up to Orlando Cabrera’s drive to the left-field track in the eighth.

“That’s what the game is all about, pitching and defense,” Acta said. “That’s pretty much what we’ve been doing: throwing strikes and catching the ball.”

Granted, Price got a little help from his friends, but he didn’t need much. There is something about the Indians that turns him into a combination of Sandy Koufax and Warren Spahn. His 2011 ERA against the Indians is 1.20; against the rest of baseball, it is 4.11.

For the first time this season, Tomlin (6-2, 2.74 ERA) gave up four runs. He kept his streak of five-inning-plus starts alive, pitching six innings and running the string to 22 starts, beginning with his MLB debut last year.

But that achievement was of little consolation to the Indians’ struggles against the Rays, who have won three in a row, including the last two in Cleveland earlier this month.

Tomlin yielded 10 hits but did not walk a batter. Five of the hits came in the second inning, which ranks as his worst of the season. It was as if Rays batters knew what pitches were coming – and liked them.

“In the first inning, I was trying to hit the corner and the ball would end up in the middle of the plate,” Tomlin said. “In the second, I tried to pick and that’s when I got in trouble. You can’t aim it. That’s what I think I was doing.”

Matt Joyce led off the second with a double and one out later, Casey Kotchman hit his second home run of the season. Rodriguez then beat out a hit to shortstop, and Fuld homered for only the third time this year.

John Jaso followed with a bloop single to left but was thrown out trying to stretch it, and Tomlin showed signs of regaining control of the situation by striking out Ben Zobrist.

But it was too little, too late the way Price was dominating the Indians’ lineup. After the second inning, Tomlin gave up four singles but no runs over the next four innings, and one of the hits was a bunt by Fuld.

Sizemore activated, moved down order

The Cleveland Indians activated outfielder Grady Sizemore from the 15-day disabled list.

The move was made before Friday night’s game at Tampa Bay. Sizemore had been on the DL with a bruised right kneecap he injured making a hard, late slide into second base May 10.

Sizemore was the DH for the game with the Rays, something Cleveland manager Manny Acta said will be the case throughout the three-game series. Sizemore was dropped from his normal leadoff spot to sixth in the lineup.

“Grady hasn’t played in two weeks, so he’s got to get his timing down a little bit,” Acta said. “We’re going to put him back there for a few days up until he gets his timing down and we’ll move him back.”

Acta didn’t rule out Sizemore playing the field once in the Indians’ next series at Toronto, which also has artifical turf like Tropicana Field.

Facing a tough left-handed starter in Tampa Bay’s David Price, Acta also moved slumping clean-up batter Carlos Santana to seventh in the order.

“After the first, like, 20 games of last year he’s been pitched like Babe Ruth,” Acta said. “He earned their respect pretty quick. Now he has to make the adjustment, he knows that. You have to learn the league, learn the sequences and just to also realize at times you’re going to have take what they give him.”

TODAY

• WHO: Cleveland at Tampa Bay
• TIME: 4:10
• WHERE: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Fla.
• PITCHERS: Carrasco (3-2, 5.16 ERA) vs. Shields (5-2, 2.00)
• TV/RADIO: SportsTime Ohio, MLB; WEOL 930-AM, WTAM 1100-AM

Applegate

LORAIN — A man had part of his ear bitten off in a fight in the 2300 block of Lexington Avenue around 8:20 p.m. Tuesday, according to a police report.

The accused biter, Aaron B. Applegate, 32, of the 900 block of West 11th Street, was arrested and charged with felonious assault and public indecency. The fight began over Applegate urinating in the presence of a 3-year-old girl, which offended her mother, Jessica L. Bruce, according to the report.

Applegate had visited Bruce’s home over her objections, the report said.

Bruce and her friend, Nathan A. Chandler, yelled at Applegate, triggering a fight between Applegate and Chandler. Applegate was caught by police after running from the scene, the report said.

Applegate said he fought in self-defense and denied urinating in public. Applegate was being held Thursday morning at the Lorain County Jail in lieu of a $54,000 bond and is due in Lorain Municipal Court on Wednesday.

CLEVELAND — The downtown ballpark, pulsating at times this season like it hasn’t in years, suddenly filled with a familiar chant.

Manny Acta swears he didn’t hear it.

As the Indians’ second-year manager walked coolly back to the dugout after being ejected for arguing a close play that didn’t go his team’s way in the eighth inning against Boston, Acta’s eyes stayed fixed on the green grass under his cleats as Cleveland fans serenaded him.

“Man-ny, Man-ny,” they sang.

Acta joked that it was for a former Indians star, the Manny with dreadlocks.

“It could have been Manny Ramirez walking into the stadium right then,” he quipped. “There are a bunch of Mannys in this game.”

But in Cleveland, there’s only one Manny — the manager of the best team in baseball.

While others shake and scratch their heads at the Indians’ early success, now a nearly two-month run fueled by remarkable starting pitching, solid defense, contributions by the entire lineup and a little luck despite a rash of key injuries, the 42-year-old Acta isn’t surprised at all.

He expected the Indians to win, demanded it of them, really, since the first day of training camp. They’re right where he figured they’d be.

.

But don’t think for a second that he’s satisfied.

“Everyone of these guys knows it’s a long season, you can never get satisfied,” he said. “There’s a long ways to go. We can’t be doing any jumping up and down. It’s pretty good right now, but I want to be 45-0. I’ve got a right to have expectations, right? As high and as improbable as that might sound.”

The Indians are winning, and a sizable chunk of the credit has to go to Acta.

“He has been doing an incredible job,” second baseman Orlando Cabrera said. “I have been really impressed with his attitude, the way he prepares himself. Before every series, he’s incredible. Oh my God, the attention to detail is unreal. He gets up early every morning and reads every single research paper and number they (the front office) give to him.

“Not too many guys prepare themselves like that.”

Nothing seems out of reach for these Indians, who recently won 14 straight at home and have made walk-off wins so common at Progressive Field that the team could almost hype them along with their other game-night promotions.

Acta, an interesting blend of smarts (he’s an avid reader) and swagger, has his players believing anything is possible as long as they remain patient and work hard.

That’s what’s gotten him here, and it’s where he intends to stay.

He’s not going to blow his second — and maybe last — chance as a big league manager.

Acta spent two tough seasons in Washington, where he did as much babysitting as managing. The Nationals lost 252 games in 2 1/2 seasons under Acta, who didn’t have enough talent to overcome numerous injuries that altered his lineup.

It was much the same way during his first season in Cleveland. Injuries forced the Indians to play rookies who weren’t ready. But they finished strong, posting the league’s third-best record in the second half, a surge that convinced Acta his team was ready to contend in 2011.

With his team sitting atop the AL Central, Acta was asked what the season has meant to him.

“Rewarding,” he said. “It reassures me that patience is what it takes. It’s being patient and continuing to work, and at the end of the day, good things are going to happen.”

Acta has been pushing all the right buttons.

He’s done an exceptional job with his pitching staff, knowing exactly when to pull his starter or let him try to get one more out. The Indians have been aggressive on the basepaths, and Acta has shown a knack for calling for a bunt in a tight spot.

Last week, he told rookie Ezequiel Carrera to bunt — if he saw a good pitch — in the eighth inning of a tie game with Cincinnati. Carrera’s first at-bat in the majors turned into a one-pitch, game-winning RBI single. How’s that for having a ‘feel’ for the game?

The next day, outfielder Travis Buck, filling in at designated hitter for the injured Travis Hafner, came back to the dugout after a pair of weak at-bats only to have Acta give him an earful. Acta was stern with Buck, but not condescending or abusive.

Acta wanted more, and he didn’t waste a single word in telling Buck, who was initially shocked.

“He lit a fire under me,” Buck said. “His tone was intense. I didn’t really know how to take it. I’ve never had a manager say something like that to me and want to pull for me as hard as he did. It made sense. It took a couple minutes for me to figure it out. It made me realize how much confidence I need to have in myself, and how much he had in me.”

His next time up, Buck hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh inning as the Indians beat the Reds 2-1.

Cleveland’s players love Acta’s straightforward approach. He’s demanding, not demeaning. He’s honest, sometimes brutally, with them and makes sure everyone on the 25-man roster knows what’s expected of them. But for every kick in the pants, he offers a pat on the back.

Acta also know his place. He respects the sanctity of the clubhouse, and won’t interfere with the players’ business unless he has to.

“He leaves us alone,” Cabrera said. “He’s a guy who says, ‘You guys handle your stuff and I’ll handle mine.’ I’ve told some of the guys, you have no idea how good you have it here. Most managers aren’t that way.”

The reaction following Acta’s ejection — the Indians wound up rallying to beat the Red Sox after he got tossed — caught several players off guard. It’s rare to see fans cheering and chanting for a manager, but Acta has become a man(ny) of the people.

One of his first duties each morning is to connect with his followers on Twitter. He reluctantly joined the social website at the team’s urging before the season, but has grown to enjoy it. And it’s not the only thing he’s having fun with these days.

“I can’t complain with my life right now,” he said.

Photo by Paul Kersey.

ELYRIA TWP. — A longtime Elyria-area bar and restaurant location was completely destroyed in a fire overnight, according to the Elyria Township Fire Department.

Fire Lt. Brian Bell said the department responded to 7212 Lake Ave. a little after 1 a.m. and is still investigating.

Upon arrival the first floor of the building was completely involved in fire, according to a Elyria Township Fire Department news release. The fire quickly spread to the second floor, which housed an apartment, the release said.

The fire was declared under control at 3:43 a.m., and crews remained on scene through the morning to extinguish hot spots.

An excavator has been called to tear down the rest of the building for safety reasons.

The Lorain County Fire Investigators have been called in to determine a cause.

Bell said the building has housed a number of restaurants and bars over the years but has been vacant for the past year or so.

The location has housed a number of establishments over the years, including Carey’s Villa, Libra Capri, The Barn and Silver Shadow.

Besides Elyria Township, firefighters from Sheffield Township, Sheffield, Elyria, Avon, Sheffield Lake and Amherst responded. The American Red Cross provided a canteen for the firefighters.

Check back at Chroniclet.com for more on this story.