Rangers 5, Indians 1
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Texas Rangers first baseman Mitch Moreland hit a two-run home run and narrowly missed another homer as the Rangers avoided a sweep at the hands of the Cleveland Indians with a 5-1 victory on Sunday.
Moreland lined a Carlos Carrasco pitch to center that center fielder Michael Bourn could not leap up and pull back into the park in bottom of the sixth, helping the Rangers pad a 2-1 lead. Moreland had doubled off the top of the wall in right in the second inning, and third baseman Adrian Beltre scored from first on that play on an error from right fielder Nick Swisher, putting Texas up 1-0.
The Rangers doubled the lead in the third on a bloop RBI single from designated hitter Prince Fielder.
Cleveland's big scoring opportunity against right-hander Nick Martinez (3-0) came in the fifth inning. The Indians scored a run on a double from designated hitter Michael Brantley. But with runners on second and third and no outs, Martinez got a pop up and a strikeout. He then intentionally walked Swisher before striking out Bourn looking to end the inning.
Martinez worked around five walks and five hits in his five innings of work. He struck out six.
Carrasco (4-4) was charged with five runs in his eight innings. He allowed seven hits and struck out nine.
Moreland and Fielder were the lone Rangers with two hits. Outfielder David Murphy had two of the six Cleveland hits.
The beleaguered Texas bullpen, which came into the game with a 6.27 ERA in May, worked four scoreless innings.
NOTES: The Rangers put LHP Ross Detwiler on the 15-day disabled list with left shoulder inflammation and designated RHP Kyuji Fujikawa for assignment. The team recalled RHP Tanner Scheppers from Triple-A Round Rock and purchased the contract of RHP Ross Ohlendorf to take the spots. The club is still undecided on a Wednesday starter. ... Texas RHP Neftali Feliz, who blew a save in Saturday's 10-8 loss, hasn't lost his job but manager Jeff Banister didn't fully endorse Feliz either. Banister said the Rangers would evaluate the situation based on the matchups and where the club was in the game. ... Cleveland 2B Jason Kipnis, who hit the game-winner homer Saturday, is now batting .517 in May. Dating back to 1914, only two players have hit at least .500 in May, with the last being Todd Helton in 2000. ... Cleveland OF Michael Brantley has hit the Rangers well. He entered Sunday's game with a six-game hitting streak against the Rangers and had five multi-hit games in that span to go along with a .609 average. He was 1-for-3 on Sunday.