Mitch Moreland’s grand slam capped a weird, five-run first inning for Texas and A.J. Griffin pitched six strong innings as the Rangers beat the Cleveland Indians 7-0 Saturday night.
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“I kind of tried to put my blinders on a little bit and execute my game plan”, Griffin said of the early lead. Two batters later Mitch Moreland unloaded the bases with a grand slam to right.Texas wasn’t done against Carrasco. He struck out 13 hitters in a gritty 3-2 come from behind win by the Indians, however, when he pitched Wednesday against the A’s, he was shelled for five runs in the second inning in route to a poor loss. The 29-year-old OH native is 3-1 in six starts at home this season with a 3.73 ERA and won at Cleveland on May 30 with six innings of one-run ball. “It’s just the way things are going. I’ve got to continue to worry about staying consistent”. “I guess you get hit that many times, you get used to it”. “The first one squared him up; he didn’t flinch”, manager Terry Francona said. “But once they spread it out, that makes it tough”.
Hernandez (9-4) improved to 5-0 in eight starts since returning from the disabled list, throwing 71/3 innings of one-run ball.
Mark Teixeira and Chase Headley also went deep for the surging Yankees, who moved five games over.500 for the first time this season.
After Ian Desmond’s one-out single in the first, Carlos Beltran snapped a career-worst 0-for-32 hitless streak with an infield single to the left side against a shift.
Cleveland loaded the bases in the ninth against closer Sam Dyson, who allowing a single and then consecutive one-out walks before striking out pinch-hitter Tyler Naquin and retiring Abraham Almonte on a fly ball to end it.
On Adrian Beltre’s sharp grounder to third, Desmond dove back and beat Ramirez’s tag to load the bases. Rougned Odor’s hard grounder to first bounced off Carlos Santana’s glove for a run-scoring error and Moreland followed with his second career slam.
But he left with a runner on after 51/3 innings and wound up charged for two earned runs in the game.
Texas has the American League’s best record, two games ahead of Cleveland. The Indians maintained their 4 1/2-game lead in the Central.
Texas Rangers Elvis Andrus, right, steals second base against Cleveland Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor during the third inning of a baseball game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016.
“Hey, anything can happen when you put the baseball in play”, Banister said.
Most of the pitchers have shown glimpses of their early season success but whether they can get back to being consistently dominant remains to be seen.
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Rangers RHP Yu Darvish is scheduled to start Monday at home vs. Seattle after hitting his first big-league home run in his previous start last Wednesday in Cincinnati.
