Beltre powers Rangers past Indians
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Adrian Beltre went 4-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored as the Texas Rangers took a 5-3 win over the Cleveland Indians in the opener of a three-game set.
Michael Young drove in two while David Murphy and Ian Kinsler each had two hits, an RBI and a run scored for the Rangers, who have won three of their last four.
Ryan Dempster (4-1) got the win in the start as he gave up just one unearned run on two hits with three walks and seven strikeouts in six innings.
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"I'm just focusing on one start at the time and doing my best whenever I go out there," said Dempster. "I just want to make good pitches and keep the ball down and away from the middle of the plate."
Casey Kotchman clubbed a two-run home run for the Indians, who lost 24 games in a month for the first time since July 1914. Ubaldo Jimenez (9-14) gave up four runs on eight hits with three walks and seven strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.
"I was fighting too many batters out there tonight," said Jimenez. "Too many times out there I wasn't getting a strike on the first pitch."
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The Rangers plated a run in the first as Kinsler singled, stole second and later came home on an Beltre single for a 1-0 lead.
Texas scored two more in the third to open up a 3-0 lead. With one out, Josh Hamilton walked and Beltre followed with a single. After Nelson Cruz struck out, Young and Murphy hit consecutive RBI singles.
In the fourth, Cleveland worked a run across. Jason Kipnis led off with a walk but was forced out a play at second that saw Asdrubal Cabrera reach base. A Michael Brantley groundout moved Cabrera to second and he scored when Carlos Santana singled to right, the first hit of the game for Cleveland, to make it a 3-1 game.
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Texas, though, plated a run in the sixth on Kinsler's RBI double and a run in the seventh thanks to Michael Young's run-scoring hit that made it a 5-1 contest.
The runs proved necessary as Cleveland made it close in the ninth. With Koji Uehara on the mound, Carlos Santana led off with a double and Kotchman followed with a blast deep into the stands in right to make it a two-run game.
After getting Ezequiel Carrera to fly out, Uehara stepped aside for Joe Nathan, who set down the next two batters for his 28th save of the season.
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Game Notes
The Indians took two of three from Texas in Cleveland in early May ... The Indians had just five wins in August and since the All-Star break are 11-36 ... Texas left 10 men on base and batted 5-for-18 with runners in scoring position.