CLEVELAND (AP) -- Rookie Zach Walters and Carlos Santana each had two RBIs, leading the Cleveland Indians to a 7-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday to conclude a disappointing season for both clubs.
Walters and David Murphy hit solo second-inning homers off Alex Cobb (10-9) for the Indians, who failed to build on last season when they hosted Tampa Bay in the AL wild-card game. Santana's two-run single in the seventh made it 6-2.
T.J. House (5-3) gave up Sean Rodriguez's leadoff homer in the second, but otherwise kept the AL's lowest-scoring team off the board.
Despite a slew of injuries, shoddy defense and an unreliable offense, the Indians stayed alive in the playoff race until Friday. Still, they won 85 games for their first consecutive winning seasons since 2000-01.
Manager Terry Francona deserves most of the credit for keeping Cleveland close as he adeptly juggled lineups, kept his team focused and maximized his bullpen.
Francona rested most of his starters, including left fielder Michael Brantley, who made a late MVP push. Brantley is the first player in Cleveland history with 200 hits, 40 doubles, 20 homers and 20 steals in a season, joining Jacoby Ellsbury as the only players to hit those plateaus in the past seven years.
The Rays, too, had a rough 2014.
They started poorly, traded ace David Price to Detroit in July and finished 77-84 -- their first losing season since 2007.
"It does sting," manager Joe Maddon said. "We don't like it. We've been on a pretty good run. If we had won 90 or 91 games and were beaten out at the end, it wouldn't be any fun, but it wouldn't be as bad as not playing up to your potential all year."
Walters has shown some promise in his brief time with the Indians, who acquired him at the trading deadline in July from Washington for shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera.
"There's a lot of sock in that bat," Francona said before the game.
He showed more of it in the sixth with an RBI double to put Cleveland ahead 4-2. Murphy singled leading off, and with one out, Walters ripped a liner over charging left fielder Brandon Guyer, who misplayed a possible out into extra bases. Murphy never stopped, scoring ahead of the relay throw.
Murphy and Walters connected in the second to make it 2-1 against Cobb, who was the winning pitcher against Cleveland in last year's wild-card game.
Rodriquez gave the Rays a 1-0 lead in the second, crushing House's first pitch for his 12th homer.
ROAD RAYS
At 41-40, the Rays are the only team in the majors to have a winning road record and an overall losing mark. The last team to do that was the Chicago White Sox (2011).
NO STING RAYS
The Rays finished with an AL-low 612 runs, the fewest in club history. Tampa Bay scored 620 in 1998.
LAST LICKS?
Indians DH Jason Giambi hasn't decided whether to continue his playing career, which began with Oakland in 1995. The 43-year-old plans to go home and enjoy his family before making his next move. He said it's strange to have an uncertain future.
"Who knows?" he said. "Maybe somebody's looking for a broken down 44-year-old to take a few extra hacks."
(K)OUNTING
Cleveland's pitchers struck out eight, raising their season record to 1,450. Tampa Bay, which also passed the previous mark set by Detroit last season, finished with 1,437 strikeouts.
