Cleveland Indians Drop Third Straight, Lose 7-3 to Rangers

The Cleveland Indians dropped their third straight game Tuesday night as they fell to the Texas Rangers 7-3. The Rangers grabbed an early lead on Tribe starter Corey Kluber and never relinquished. The loss dropped the Indians to 26-24 while the Rangers moved to 31-21. 

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For the first seven innings, Tribe starter Corey Kluber looked solid. He allowed just five hits, no walks, and struck out six. Unfortunately, for him, two of those five hits went for home runs. In the third, Bryan Holaday smacked a two-run home run to left giving the Rangers the early 2-0 lead. Then in the fifth inning, Jurickson Profar took Kluber deep for a solo home run to left making it 3-0 Texas.

That’s all Kluber allowed until he went back out to start the 8th inning.  After two weak singles to left by Holaday and Profar, Ian Desmond smacked a double that plated two runs. That was all for Kluber who gave way to reliever Bryan Shaw. After getting Prince Fielder to ground out, Adrian Beltre singled home Desmond making it 6-2 Rangers and closing the book on Kluber. Instead of seven strong innings, Kluber’s final line was seven innings, eight hits, six runs (all earned), no walks and six strikeouts and taking the loss (4-6). After Shaw finished the 8th without allowing another run, newcomer Shawn Armstrong worked the 9th allowing one run on an RBI single by Ohio native Jared Hoying making it 7-2.

The Indians were no help offensively for Kluber for much of the night as they never figured out Rangers starter Colby Lewis who worked six scoreless innings allowing just two hits and a pair of walks. It wasn’t until the Rangers bullpen came on in the 7th that the Indians got any offense going. Lonnie Chisenhall slugged his first home run of the season, a two-run shot in the 7th inning off Tony Barnette making it 3-2 Rangers at the time. Unfortunately, that was all the Tribe could get and after Kluber and the bullpen failed to keep the game close things fizzled. The Indians got one run back in the 9th on a single by Chisenhall (his third RBI on the night) scoring Jose Ramirez. The win moved Lewis to 5-0 on the year while Sam Dyson picked up his 6th save.

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The Indians will look to break their three-game losing streak tomorrow evening in the finale of the series. The Tribe will send out Trevor Bauer while the Rangers will counter with former Phillies’ ace Cole Hamels. First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 pm. The Indians will then welcome the first-place Kansas City Royals to town for a four-game series, beginning Thursday. The Indians will be getting a boost for that series with the return of Carlos Carrasco, who’s scheduled to make his return in the Royals’ opener.