Texas Rangers vs Cleveland Guardians Match Player Stats On Aug 05, 2019

Mike Minor struck out seven over seven strong innings as the surging Texas Rangers recorded a 1-0 victory over the host Cleveland Indians on Monday.

Elvis Andrus ripped a triple to lead off the fourth inning and then scored on Nomar Mazara's sacrifice fly for the Rangers, who have won five in a row.

Andrus added a single, and Mazara did the same to extend his hitting streak to eight games for Texas, which will attempt to match a season-high winning streak on Tuesday in the second contest of the three-game series.

Minor (10-6) flustered Cleveland for the second time this season. He allowed seven hits -- all singles -- while walking just one batter during his 112-pitch performance. The 31-year-old permitted one run on three hits over eight innings in a 4-2 victory versus the Indians on June 20.

Jesse Chavez retired the side in order in the eighth inning to bridge the gap to Jose Leclerc, who overcame Jose Ramirez's leadoff double in the ninth to secure his seventh save of the season.

Ramirez advanced to third on Tyler Naquin's sacrifice bunt, but Leclerc induced Jason Kipnis to ground out to first base before Franmil Reyes flied out to end the game.

Yasiel Puig and Jordan Luplow each had a pair of hits for the Indians, who saw their three-game winning streak come to a halt and fell for just the sixth time in their last 22 contests.

In the fourth inning, Andrus sent a 3-2 cutter from Indians right-hander Aaron Civale (1-1) just over the outstretched glove of rookie Oscar Mercado in center field. Andrus beat Mercado's throw into the third base before scoring on Mazara's sacrifice fly.

Cleveland missed a chance to score in the seventh inning, as Luplow reached on an infield single to begin the inning, and Kipnis did the same after the Rangers were unable to cleanly field his bunt toward third base.

Reyes flied out, but Luplow stole third before exiting with a cramp in his right hamstring. Minor recovered to strike out Roberto Perez and get Francisco Lindor to ground into a fielder's choice to end the inning.

--Field Level Media