Cleveland Guardians

After lengthy rehab, Floyd glad to be on the mound for Tribe

Published Sep. 3, 2015 5:31 p.m. ET

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TORONTO (AP) -- On a rough night for the Indians, Gavin Floyd's return gave them something to smile about.

R.A. Dickey pitched a four-hitter to win his seventh straight decision, Josh Donaldson had three hits and the Toronto Blue Jays beat Cleveland 5-1 on Wednesday.

With an off day Thursday and extra help in the bullpen now that rosters have expanded, Indians manager Terry Francona yanked struggling starter Trevor Bauer (10-11) after the right-hander gave up five runs and six hits in 1 1/3 innings.

Six relievers followed, including Floyd, who was pitching for the first time since June 19, 2014, with Atlanta. Floyd needed a second surgery after suffering the same injury in spring training this year.

Working in relief for the first time since May 2011, Floyd retired the heart of Toronto's lineup -- Donaldson, Jose Bautista, and Edwin Encarnacion -- in the seventh.

"It was really good to see," Francona said. "On a tough night, it was nice to see him pitch in a major league game."

Floyd said it was "fun" to get into a game for the first time in more than a year.

"My heart was racing but I was able to control my emotions and zero in on what I needed to do," he said.

Catcher Yan Gomes came to the mound for a brief chat midway through Floyd's warmup pitches.

"We had a refresher as far as what pitches I throw," Floyd said.

Cleveland lost consecutive games for the first time since Aug. 18 and 19 at Boston. They went 9-2 in between.

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