Lewis shuts down Indians in Rangers' win
CLEVELAND -- Colby Lewis pitched six scoreless innings and Bryan Holaday and Jurickson Profar homered to lead the Texas Rangers to a 7-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night at Progressive Field.
The win was the Rangers' fourth in a row while Cleveland has lost three in a row. In winning the first two games of the series, the Rangers outscored the Indians 16-5
Lewis (5-0) pitched six shutout innings on two hits with two strikeouts and two walks. The only hits allowed by Lewis were a pair of third-inning singles. He retired 18 of the 22 batters he faced.
Sam Dyson pitched got the last two outs of the game to pick up his sixth save.
Corey Kluber (4-6) pitched seven innings and took the loss. The Indians scored three runs or fewer in all six of Kluber's losses. Cleveland scored 11 runs total in those six games.
With Texas leading 3-0, Tony Barnette relieved Lewis to start the seventh inning, and the Indians quickly struck for two runs. Jose Ramirez led off the seventh with a single. Marlon Byrd struck out, but Lonnie Chisenhall belted his first home of the season over the wall in right-center field, cutting Texas' lead to 3-2.
The Rangers got both of those runs back in the top of the eighth inning, knocking Kluber out of the game. Holaday led off the inning with a single. He went to second on a single by Profar. Ian Desmond then bounced a double off the right field wall, scoring both runners and giving Texas a 5-2 lead.
Kluber was removed from the game after Desmond's hit. In seven innings he gave up six runs on eight hits, with six strikeouts and no walks. Bryan Shaw relieved Kluber and Shaw gave up an RBI double to Adrian Beltre to extend the Texas lead to 6-2.
Texas added another run in the ninth inning on an RBI single by Jared Hoying off rookie Shawn Armstrong. The Indians scored a run in the bottom of the ninth on an RBI single by Chisenhall off Matt Bush.
The Rangers took a 2-0 lead in the third inning when Jared Hoying singled and scored on a home run by Bryan Holaday over the left-field wall. Texas extended its lead in the fifth inning on a solo home run by Jurickson Profar into the seats in right field.
Lewis has traditionally struggled pitching against the Indians, especially at Progressive Field. Lewis came into the game with an 8.44 ERA in seven career starts vs. Cleveland. In four career appearances (three starts) at Progressive Field, he had an 11.74 ERA.
On this night, however, Lewis breezed through the Cleveland lineup in the first five innings. He retired 15 of the 17 batters he faced. The only base runners in that span came in the third inning.
Lonnie Chisenhall led off the inning with a single. Lewis retired the next batter, but a single by Rajai Davis put runners at first and second with one out. Lewis retired Carlos Santana on a groundout and Jason Kipnis on a flyout to end the inning.
NOTES: Indians RHP Carlos Carrasco will be activated off the disabled list and start Thursday against Kansas City. He has been on the DL since April 25 with a strained left hamstring. ... The Indians optioned LHP Ryan Merritt to Triple-A Columbus and recalled RHP Shawn Armstrong from Columbus. ... Texas rookie OF Nomar Mazara has hit seven home runs in May, the most by a Rangers rookie in a month since Chris Davis hit eight in July 2008. The Rangers' record for most home runs in a month by a rookie is 10 by Dave Hostetler in June 1982. ... Rangers LHP Cesar Ramos earned a three-inning save on Monday. It was his second career save. The first was also a three-inning save on May 31, 2013, in Cleveland.