Arlington, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Lonnie Chisenhall had himself a night to remember.
The Indians third baseman homered three times and matched a franchise record by driving in nine runs in Cleveland's 17-7 drubbing of the Texas Rangers on Monday.
Chisenhall finished 5-for-5 and drove in runs in each of his at-bats, which included a pair of two-run homers and a three-run shot. He became the first major leaguer since Boston's Fred Lynn in 1975 to compile at least five hits, three homers and nine RBI in a game and matched Chris James' franchise record for runs batted in, set on May 4, 1991.
"It was fun to get the win and win the series. The personal success comes second," said Chisenhall. "It's a great night. I probably won't know the magnitude of it until later on."
George Kottaras and Michael Brantley also homered for Cleveland, with Brantley reaching base in all five plate appearances and scoring a career-high five runs. Jason Kipnis and Asdrubal Cabrera each had three hits and three runs scored. Kipnis drove in four as well.
The Indians have won nine of their last 10 games.
Cleveland jumped all over Texas starter Nick Martinez (1-3), plating three runs in the top of the first inning before putting up a five-spot in the second.
Kipnis and Carlos Santana drove in runs with groundouts around a Chisenhall RBI single to give the Tribe an early 3-0 lead.
In the second, Kottaras crushed a solo shot to the second deck in right field for his third homer in just his fifth at-bat of the season. Then with two outs, Cabrera started a rally with his double to left that was followed by a Brantley walk. Kipnis drove both runners home with a long single down the right-field line, and Chisenhall made it 8-1 with his two-run homer that narrowly cleared the wall in right.
Scott Baker relieved Martinez after two innings but didn't fare much better, allowing a run to score on Kottaras' sacrifice fly in the third and serving up two homers in the fourth. Brantley sent a solo blast to right and Chisenhall connected on a two-run shot out to right-center.
All the while Texas was scoring runs off Indians starter T.J. House, albeit at a slower rate. Adrian Beltre's grounder to shortstop plated Dan Robertson in the bottom of the first inning. After failing to put any runs across in the second, the Rangers scored three more in the third and two in the fourth.
Luis Sardinas raced home on a wild pitch in the third and Elvis Andrus, who doubled to move Sardinas to third, scored on a Shin-Soo Choo grounder to first. With the bases vacant, Beltre reached on an infield single and scored when Alex Rios tripled to center to trim Cleveland's lead to 9-4.
After Chisenhall's second homer made it 12-4, Michael Choice opened the home fourth with a solo blast. Robertson chased House from the game three batters later with an RBI double to left which cut the deficit in half.
But this game was all about Chisenhall. He kept the onslaught going in the bottom of the sixth inning, plating Brantley with a two-bagger to the wall in left-center.
"He hit three home runs tonight, a double and a single," said Rangers manager Ron Washington. "I think it was two of three years ago both (Chisenhall) and Kipnis came up and he disappeared for a few years. I guess he figured it out, at least against us.
Cabrera, Brantley and Kipnis all singled off a gassed Baker to start the eighth, and Chisenhall put a feather in his cap with a three-run homer down the right-field line, ending Baker's night and putting Cleveland up 17-6. The Texas reliever went five-plus innings and was charged with nine runs on 11 hits.
Texas catcher Robinson Chirinos' solo homer in the bottom of the eighth was the final run.
Scott Atchison (3-0) tossed 1 2/3 innings out of the bullpen for Cleveland to get the win.
Game Notes
Chisenhall has hit safely in 19 of 21 games and has 22 RBI over his last 10 ... Only three players (Lynn, Gil Hodges and Walker Cooper) had recorded at least five hits, three homers and nine RBI in a game since 1914 ... Brantley's 10th HR of the season matches a career high ... Cleveland has won three straight road games for the first time this season ... The Indians also are two games above .500 for the first time all season ... Cleveland had 18 hits ... Texas announced Sunday that first baseman Mitch Moreland is expected to miss three months because of ankle surgery. Moreland replaced Prince Fielder, who is out for the season following neck surgery late last month, as the team's regular first baseman ... Choo finished 0-for-12 during Texas' three- game losing skid.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.