Tepesch, Rangers Fall 8-3 To Indians
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - One pitch out of the 88 Texas' Nick Tepesch threw on Saturday got him in trouble.
Yan Gomes hit that pitch, a sixth-inning curveball, over the center field wall for a three-run home run, breaking a tie game and sending the Cleveland Indians on their way to an 8-3 win over the Texas Rangers on Saturday.
"I thought he did a good job except for the curveball he threw to Gomes, and he hit it out," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "I mean he got us into the sixth inning with one out, so that was pretty good to me."
The Rangers scored twice in the sixth to pull within 4-3. Adrian Beltre hit an RBI double and came home on winning pitcher Josh Tomlin's wild pitch.
"(Tomlin) limited the damage," Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. "First and third, and he got out of the jam. "He pitched all day."
Then Carlos Santana hit a two-run homer to cap a four-run seventh against relievers Robbie Ross Jr. and Tanner Scheppers.
Former Ranger David Murphy went 3 for 4 and drove in Cleveland's first run, and Tomlin, a native of Tyler, Texas, kept the Rangers in check.
"(Tomlin) had a good breaking ball and he was spotting his fast ball," Washington said. "He wasn't giving up a whole lot, and they just blew the game open in the seventh inning."
Tomlin left after giving up a leadoff single to Beltre in the ninth, coming three outs shy of his first complete game in the big leagues since Sept. 24, 2010.
"I'd like to get the complete game, don't get me wrong," Tomlin said. "I'm more happy we got the win."
Tepesch (2-2) left after Gomes' homer, giving up eight hits, four walks and four earned runs in 5 1-3 innings. He struck out one.
He survived the first five innings by stranding five Indians on base.
"I felt pretty good," Tepesch said after his second consecutive loss. "You know they were making me work a little bit. I felt like I made some pretty good pitches, but really that one bad pitch right there kind of got me.
Santana hit his homer into the right-center field bullpen off Scheppers. Santana went 2 for 2, walked twice and scored two runs.
Texas went up 1-0 in the third on Elvis Andrus' sacrifice fly.
Cleveland tied it in the fourth after singles by Jason Kipnis and Lonnie Chisenhall put runners at first and third with no outs.
With Chisenhall running on the pitch, Murphy lifted a fly ball to short center. Chisenhall was already around second base when Leonys Martin caught the ball and made an easy throw to first.
No one was covering the base, however, as Kipnis scored on the sacrifice fly and Chisenhall was awarded third when the throw rolled into the Texas dugout.
"That wasn't the right idea," Washington said. "The play is to home plate to cut the run off. Whether you get the run or not, it's the cutoff man that makes the decision."
NOTES: Andrus' sixth-inning single extended his hitting streak against the Indians to 39 games, every one he has played against them. It is the second-longest streak against one opponent since 1945. . The Rangers signed their ninth- and 10th-round draft picks, Central Arkansas CF Doug Votolato and Abilene Christian C Seth Spivey. . Santana, Cleveland's cleanup hitter most of this season, batted eighth for the second consecutive game. Francona said, "We don't want Carlos to be our eighth hitter all year, but when you're hitting fourth and hitting .150 it's pretty glaring." Santana had been on the DL because of concussion symptoms. . Indians 1B Nick Swisher (hyperextended left knee) ran the bases before the game. . Cleveland drafted Gomes' brother, Juan Gomes, a catcher from Odessa (Texas) College, in the 37th round.