Indians Drop Fifth Straight in 5-2 Loss to Rangers

Ryan Dempster dominated the Indians lineup while the Rangers roughed up Jeanmar Gomez Wednesday night as the Rangers beat the Tribe, 5-2, in the second game of a three-day swing through Texas. The loss was Cleveland’s fifth straight defeat, dropping the Indians to 59-84, still tied for last place with the Twins and 17.5 games behind the White Sox with 19 games to go.

Kevin Jairaj-US PRESSWIRE

It was clear from the start that it was going to be a rough game. After Dempster struck out the side in order in the top of the first, Ian Kinsler led off the bottom of the first with a double and Elvis Andrus followed with a base hit. Josh Hamilton‘s fielder’s choice brought Kinsler home, and Beltre followed with a two-run home run off Gomez as Texas took a 3-0 lead in the first inning. The Rangers then added another early-inning run as Hamilton hit a solo homer in the bottom of the third.

The Indians finally got on the board in the top of the fourth. Carlos Santana and Michael Brantley led off with singles on back-to-back pitches and Russ Canzler walked to load the bases with nobody out. After Lonnie Chisenhall struck out, Casey Kotchman brought Santana home with a fielder’s choice. Dempster then struck out Brent Lillibridge to end the threat as Cleveland got only one run out of a bases-loaded, no-out situation.

Texas got the run back in the bottom of the inning as Michael Young doubled, moved to third on David Murphy‘s groundout, and scored on Geovany Soto‘s sacrifice fly. The Indians responded with a sacrifice fly of their own in the top of the fifth as Ezequiel Carrera singled, stole second, got to third on Shin-Soo Choo‘s single to set up the sac fly from Santana to make it a three-run game.

Unfortunately, that was it for the scoring. David Huff, Esmil Rogers, and Chris Perez combined for four innings of shutout relief while Dempster struck out eight Tribe hitters before turning it over to Koji Uehara and Joe Nathan as the Rangers held on for a 5-2 win.

Source:

Kevin Jairaj-US PRESSWIRE

The Good: Shin-Soo Choo went 2-for-4, and David Huff held one of the best offenses in baseball scoreless in 2.2 innings out of the bullpen, nabbing four strikeouts along the way.

The Bad: Jeanmar Gomez reminded us of why he lost his rotation spot as the Rangers shelled him for five runs (all earned) on six hits in four innings pitched. That he ended up with more home runs allowed (2) than strikeouts (1) says all you need to know.

Also, failing to capitalize on a bases-loaded, no-out situation is a recipe for losing, especially against a pitcher as good as Dempster. The Indians let a big opportunity go to waste and they paid the price.

Interesting Tidbit: Adrian Beltre is now hitting .500 with 5 home runs and 9 RBI in 24 at-bats against the Indians this year.