Brantley, Kipnis key 4-run 9th for Indians
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This time, the Cleveland Indians turned the tables on the Texas Rangers.
A night after watching Texas come back twice in an emotional win, the Indians put together a late rally of their own with a four-run ninth inning for a 7-5 victory over the AL West leaders in 106-degree heat.
Michael Brantley hit a go-ahead RBI double and Jason Kipnis homered in Cleveland's late outburst to help the Indians beat Texas for the first time this season after five consecutive defeats.
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On Friday night, Texas came back from an early five-run deficit and a two-run hole in the ninth for an 8-7 win in 11 innings.
"It was very important to win this ballgame because the game yesterday was very tough and you don't want those games to snowball, because those games, at times, if you don't have some resiliency, it takes a couple of days for the team to recuperate," Indians manager Manny Acta said. "These guys have shown that resiliency the whole year."
Texas carried a 4-3 advantage into the ninth before the Indians rallied against closer Neftali Feliz (1-3), who had his sixth blown save in 28 chances.
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Kosuke Fukudome led off the ninth with a double off the glove of right fielder Nelson Cruz, who sprinted back to the warning track and nearly made a spectacular catch.
Ezequiel Carrera's sacrifice bunt moved Fukudome to third, and Lonnie Chisenhall's single to right on a 1-2 pitch drove in Fukudome to tie it.
Brantley's double to right drove in Chisenhall, who slid in safely ahead of second baseman Ian Kinsler's relay throw to the plate.
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Kipnis greeted Yoshinori Tateyama with a two-run drive to extend Cleveland's lead to 7-4.
"It was huge," Kipnis said of the comeback. "At some point, the offense has to take pride in what they're doing and put the team on their backs and tonight was one of those nights, where we really locked down in the late innings."
Rangers manager Ron Washington preferred to credit the Indians rather than criticize his closer.
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"The problem tonight was the Cleveland Indians," Washington said. "They put some at-bats together against our closer and beat us. There's no guarantees in the game of baseball. When you give the ball to your closer, you feel good about the game being over. But there are no guarantees."
For the first time on this road trip, the Indians trailed entering the ninth inning. They went 2-3 in the previous five games while being tied or leading to start the ninth.
Frank Herrmann (2-0) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win. Chris Perez allowed a two-out RBI single to Elvis Andrus in the ninth, then gave up an infield single to Josh Hamilton.
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Perez's wild pitch moved the runners to second and third but Michael Young grounded out, giving Perez his 23rd save in 26 opportunities.
The Rangers had a four-run seventh off Indians starter Fausto Carmona, with Kinsler ending a 3-for-42 slide with a two-run single and Hamilton hitting a tiebreaking sacrifice fly.
Carmona allowed four runs — two earned — and six hits in 6 1-3 innings with two strikeouts and one walk.
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Rangers starter C.J. Wilson gave up three runs — two earned — and five hits in 6 2-3 innings with nine strikeouts and two walks.
The first-pitch temperature of 106 degrees was the highest in Rangers Ballpark history.
Wilson and Carmona both pitched shutout ball over the first six innings before the Indians broke through with a three-run seventh.
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Fukudome hit an infield single and scored on Shelley Duncan's double. When Wilson walked No. 9 hitter Lou Marson with two outs in the seventh, Darren Oliver came on in relief.
Oliver was called for a balk when he dropped the ball while his foot was on the rubber, allowing pinch-runner Carrera to score from third.
The Indians put up a third run in the seventh with the help of a throwing error by Young at third base. He threw wide of first on Brantley's grounder, and Marson slid home ahead of first baseman Mitch Moreland's throw.
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Texas' seventh-inning rally was helped by Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera's fielding error. Cabrera also was picked off first in the eighth by right-hander Koji Uehara.
Moreland and Torrealba led off the seventh with singles, and Moreland scored from second when Cabrera muffed David Murphy's grounder. Kinsler followed with a two-run single to tie it.
Kinsler stole second, went to third on a groundout and scored the go-ahead run on Hamilton's sacrifice fly off reliever Tony Sipp.
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NOTES: Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, sat in the owners' box to the left of the Texas dugout. Bush, a Dallas-area resident who once owned the Rangers, has attended several games this season. ... Indians OF Shin-Soo Choo returned to Cleveland to be examined by team doctors before deciding on the next step in his rehab from a broken left thumb. If Choo is cleared, he could begin a minor league rehab assignment next week. ... The Rangers signed RHP Connor Sadzeck, their 11th-round pick in the June draft. ... Former Rangers LHP Kenny Rogers was inducted into the club's Hall of Fame in pregame ceremonies. ... Texas will start RHP Colby Lewis on Sunday night in the series finale as Lewis tries to avoid giving up the long ball after allowing a league-high 27 homers in 22 starts. RHP Josh Tomlin gets the start for Cleveland. He's the first pitcher since 1919 to last at least five innings in his first 34 big league appearances. ... Andrus was hit in the helmet by Carmona's fastball in the first inning, but remained in the game. ... Young's single in the third was the 1,998th hit of his career. ... Kinsler has 20 straight successful steal attempts.