Indians 8, Rangers 3
ARLINGTON, Texas –- Cleveland designated hitter Nick Swisher led a rare offensive outburst in the Indians' 8-3 victory Friday night over the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park.
The Indians (13-21) beat Texas for 12th time in 13 games in the opener of the three-game series. Should they make it 13 of 14 on Saturday, it would mark the Cleveland's first series win and two-game winning streak since the opening series of the season.
Swisher collected three of the club's 12 hits, drove in three and scored once. Second baseman Jason Kipnis went 4-for-5 and scored three times. Center fielder Michael Brantley had three hits, two RBIs and crossed the plate three times.
Cleveland had scored a total of six runs over the three previous games.
Texas (15-21) has dropped two in a row and is 2-3 on its seven-game homestand. After a hot start that included home runs by designated hitter Prince Fielder and third baseman Adrian Beltre, the Rangers managed only two hits over the last 6 2/3 innings against five Cleveland relievers.
Texas right fielder Shin-Soo Choo had his hitting streak snapped at 14 games after going 0-for-5.
In a battle of soft-throwing lefties, neither Cleveland starter Bruce Chen nor Texas' Wandy Rodriguez made it through five innings. They combined to allow eight runs on 15 hits, with Chen exiting in the third and Rodriguez (1-2) taking the loss.
Indians reliever Ryan Webb (1-0) picked up the win by tossing two shutout innings after coming in for Chen.
The Indians, beginning a seven-game road trip, also touched up Texas reliever Kyuji Fujikawa for three runs in the sixth. Catcher Brett Hayes opened the inning with a solo homer to left, his third of the year.
The Indians hit Rodriguez hard to open the game, taking a 2-0 lead.
Kipnis, batting leadoff, lined a single to left before Brantley and Swisher smashed run-scoring doubles.
The lead didn't last long. Fielder and Beltre launched back-to-back home runs off Chen in the bottom of the first to put the home team up 3-2.
Fielder's blast to right-center, scoring shortstop Elvis Andrus, was his fifth of the season. Beltre's was the 400th of his career, leading to a congratulatory banner being unveiled beyond center field and a curtain call for the fans.
Beltre ended Chen's night in the third with a one-out double into the left-field corner. Chen gave up three runs on seven hits.
Swisher scored to tie the game 3-3 in the fourth on third baseman Zach Walters' single to left.
Swisher struck again with this third hit off Rodriguez in the fifth, a two-out single to right to give Cleveland a 5-3 advantage. Rodriguez didn't get out of the inning as he was yanked one batter later.
NOTES: Cleveland came into the series having won 11 of the last 12 against Texas. The Indians have also claimed the last nine series against the Rangers and Houston Astros. ... Rangers SS Elvis Andrus opened his career with a 39-game hitting streak against the Indians. He had hit safely in 43 of 44 career games going into Friday night. ... Cleveland OF David Murphy was 12-for-25 with seven extra-bases hits last year against Texas, his former team. ... Texas OF Shin-Soo Choo, a former Indian, entered Friday with a 14-game hitting streak. ... Cleveland INF Zach Walters made his first start of the season at third base.