Odor Leads Rangers Over Indians 5-0 In Scorching Texas Heat
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Rougned Odor thrived in oppressive conditions.
Odor drove in three runs, Ryan Rua hit a two-run homer and the Texas Rangers withstood the heat on a 108-degree afternoon to beat the Cleveland Indians 5-0 on Sunday, stopping a four-game losing streak.
The game time temperature was 102 degrees — 5 shy of the stadium record set Friday and matched Saturday — then rose in the afternoon sunshine.
"Where I'm from it's really hot like this," said Odor, a native of Venezuela. "So, this is no problem for me playing with this weather. I like playing in this weather."
Yovani Gallardo (4-1) and three relievers combined on a five-hitter against the AL Central leader, which had outscored Texas 25-11 in the first two games of the series.
"I just worked quickly, kept a tight strike zone and get guys to swing the bat," Gallardo said.
That was key for the Rangers.
"I think the biggest part of it was Gallardo, all our pitchers, keeping our guys off the field for extended periods of time," Texas manager Jeff Banister said.
Gallardo allowed three hits and four walks in six innings, his longest scoreless outing since Aug. 22, 2015, at Detroit. Jose Leclerc and Jake Diekman each pitched a one-hit inning, and Cory Gearrin got three straight outs on seven pitches.
Mike Clevinger (7-6) lost his third straight start, allowing two runs, four hits and four walks in 6 2/3 innings.
"I walked the nine-hole hitter twice and that's just really, really bad baseball," Clevinger said. "It's just not acceptable no matter what the score of the game is."
"In the final meeting between the teams this year, Odor hit an RBI single in the third and a sacrifice fly in the fifth, then added a home run in the eighth against Oliver Perez.
Delino DeShields, hitting .073 (3 for 41) in July coming in, walked twice, stole two bases and scored the first two runs.
"We need for him to be on base," Banister said. "We gave him a day after a rough day to get some work in. It was his speed that created for us early."
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