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The Rangers put on an impressive power display in Cleveland on Tuesday, eventually leading to an 8-6 victory over the Indians in 12 innings.
Doug Fister was impressive in his second start back from the disabled list, allowing just a pair of unearned runs on six hits over his 6 ⅔ innings. Fister fanned four and walked two on the night. The 34-year-old hurler has been impressive through his first five starts with the Rangers, posting a 2.88 ERA, 1.48 WHIP and 20/10 K/BB ratio.
Fister traded zeroes through the first four innings with Indians’ right-hander Mike Clevinger. The Rangers finally broke through in the fifth when light-hitting outfielder Delino DeShields clubbed his first home run of the season. Jurickson Profar then added to that advantage with an RBI double.
They increased their advantage in the seventh when Profar came through with a two-run double and Nomar Mazara followed with a two-run bomb.
The Indians weren’t going to go quietly into the night though. They fought back with a pair of runs in the home half of the seventh inning on a two-run double by Jason Kipnis.
Rangers’ manager Jeff Bannister turned to closer Keone Kela in a non-save situation with a four run lead in the ninth inning and it didn’t go well. Kela allowed three singles to load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate. He battled back to fan Jose Ramirez for the second out of the inning and was one strike away from escaping the jam when he got ahead of Michael Brantley 0-2. His next pitch caught far too much of the plate though, and Brantley crushed a game-tying grand slam to breathe new life into the Tribe.
Both bullpens held serve in the 10th and 11th innings. In the 12th, the Rangers’ big bats became too much to handle. With one out in the frame, Joey Gallo launched the first pitch he saw from Nick Goody for a go-ahead homer to center field, his ninth of the season.Isiah Kiner-Falefa blasted the very next pitch over the wall in left center to provide a valuable insurance run. He wound up going 4-for-6 in the ballgame and is hitting an impressive .294/.333/.441 with two homers and seven RBI in his rookie campaign.
Alex Claudio, who came on after Kela and worked scoreless innings in the 10th and 11th innings, stayed on for the 12th and set the Indians down in order. He earned his first victory of the season for his efforts.
Mike Clevinger logged a quality start for the Indians in the ballgame, surrendering three runs on seven hits over his 6 ⅔ innings of work. The right-hander whiffed seven while issuing only one free pass. He has been outstanding through his first six starts, posting a 2.82 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 29/10 K/BB ratio across 38 ⅓ innings.
With the victory, the Rangers improve to 12-19, though they still reside in the cellar of the American League West, a full eight games behind the Astros.
With the loss, the Indians fall to 15-13. Luckily for them, the rest of the American League Central is a trainwreck and the Indians should run away with the division despite how mediocre they have played to date.
