A sloppy home opener ended with another loss for the Cleveland Indians.
Nelson Cruz's two-run homer in the 10th inning off Jamey Wright gave Texas a 4-2 win and sent Cleveland to its fourth straight loss.
Cruz hit his American League leading fifth home run into the home-run porch in left field on a 1-0 pitch and sent the sellout crowd of 42,061 home with a loss.
Frank Francisco (2-2) pitched the ninth for the win. Neftali Feliz, the Rangers' new closer, pitched a perfect 10th for his first save.
The game featured sloppy play and missed chances by both teams.
Wright (0-1) went from hero to losing pitcher in a short amount of time. The Rangers loaded the bases with nobody out against Chris Perez in the ninth, but failed to score. Tony Sipp retired pinch-hitter Ryan Garko, a former Indian, on a popup. Wright relieved and got Michael Young to hit into a double play on the first pitch.
Starting pitchers Fausto Carmona and Rich Harden battled evenly. Carmona gave up two runs in eight innings. Harden allowed two runs, including Shin-Soo Choo's solo homer in the first, in six innings.
Carmona still had the 1-0 lead going into the sixth when Texas scored twice. Young's single tied the game before Carmona's wild pitch gave Texas the lead.
The Indians tied the game in the seventh on Jhonny Peralta’s sacrifice fly.
Texas | Cleveland | |
Rich Harden | Player | Fausto Carmona |
No Decision | W/L | No Decision |
6.0 | IP | 8.0 |
2 | Strikeouts | 4 |
5 | Hits | 5 |
3.00 | ERA | 2.25 |
Texas | Cleveland | |
Nelson Cruz | Player | Shin-Soo Choo |
2 | Hits | 3 |
2 | RBI | 1 |
1 | HR | 1 |
7 | TB | 7 |
.500 | Avg | 1.000 |