Associated Press Sports
updated 9:25 p.m. ET Aug. 31, 2012
CLEVELAND (AP) - Adrian Beltre had four hits and scored twice to help the Texas Rangers beat Cleveland 5-3 Friday night, handing the reeling Indians their sixth straight loss.
Beltre had three of his hits off Ubaldo Jimenez (9-14) as the Rangers rolled to their 10th win in 13 games.
The Indians' 15th loss in 16 games made them 5-24 in August, tying the team record for losses in one month, set in July 1914. Cleveland is 5-28 since July 27.
Ryan Dempster (4-1) gave up two hits and one unearned run in six innings. Joe Nathan got the final two outs for his 28th save in 29 chances and 26th in a row.
Rangers right fielder Nelson Cruz was ejected for slamming his bat on the plate in the seventh after his third strikeout.
Beltre had two doubles and two singles in five times up. His only out came on a diving catch by left fielder Jason Donald in the ninth. The third baseman has hit .472 (17 for 36) with 14 RBIs in his last nine games. In his last 68 games, Beltre has batted .334 with 15 homers and 45 RBIs.
The Indians are as frigid as Beltre has been torrid, dropping to 11-36 in the second half. Cleveland has hit just .194 with runners in scoring position over that time and their starting rotation's 6.47 ERA during that span is the worst in the majors.
Manager Manny Acta, whose job falls further into jeopardy with each loss, shook up Cleveland's lineup in an effort to manufacture some offense. He reinstated Shin-Soo Choo into the leadoff spot, dropping Jason Kipnis and Asdrubal Cabrera one spot each to second and third.
"You've got to die trying, man," Acta said before the game.
The Indians did just that against Dempster, who was perfect before issuing a one-out walk to Jack Hannahan in the third. Santana broke up the no-hitter with an RBI single in the fourth, when shortstop Elvis Andrus made two errors.
Andrus went 1 for 5. He has hit safely in all 27 of his career games against Cleveland.
Jimenez made 31 pitches in the first inning, but escaped by allowing only one run, on Beltre's RBI single.
Two innings later, his pitch count at 78, Jimenez trailed 3-0 after Michael Young and David Murphy had consecutive RBI singles in the third.
Ian Kinsler's two-out RBI single on Jimenez's season-high 117th pitch made it 4-1 in the sixth.
The right-hander gave up eight hits, four runs and three walks. Though he struck out seven, he also dropped to 1-7 with 7.79 ERA in 10 starts since the All-Star break.
Young singled home Beltre in the seventh against reliever Esmil Rogers.
Dempster, who was only 5-5 despite a sparkling 2.25 ERA in 16 starts for the Cubs, is enjoying great run support in Texas. The Rangers lead the majors with 675 runs, and have scored 31 in Dempster's 37 1-3 innings since he was acquired on July 31 from the Chicago Cubs. He had not faced Cleveland since 2006, when he worked in relief for the Cubs.
Santana doubled and scored on Casey Kotchman's 12th homer, off Koji Uehara in the ninth.
NOTES: Cleveland's 5-24 August ties the 1982 New York Mets and 1961 Washington Senators for the worst record in the month since 1944. ... Texas went 19-10 in August ... Texas is 23-6 against the Indians since the start of 2009, their best record against any AL opponent. ... Texas C Mike Napoli, out since Aug. 11 with a strained left quad, has begun running, but it's unclear when he will return. ... OF Shelley Duncan was sent outright to Triple-A Columbus. The Indians had designated him for assignment on Wednesday. ... Cruz went 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position overall before his first career ejection, by plate umpire Bill Welke.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/48867889/ns/sports-baseball/
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