Santana, Lynn drive Rangers past Indians

Danny Santana belted a two-run homer, and Lance Lynn struck out nine over seven innings as the host Texas Rangers posted a 7-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Monday. Elvis Andrus ripped a two-run double, and former Indian Shin-Soo Choo and Jeff Mathis each drove in a run for the Rangers, who scored all seven of their runs with two outs.

Francisco Lindor and rookie Oscar Mercado each belted a solo homer for the Indians, who fell for just the fourth time in 12 games. Cleveland's Mike Clevinger (1-1) allowed five runs on three hits in 4 2/3 innings to take the loss in his return after a two-month absence due to a back injury. Prior to the injury, the 28-year-old yielded two hits and registered 22 strikeouts over 12 scoreless innings to open the season.

Lynn (8-4) recorded his eighth straight quality start after yielding one run on six hits without walking a batter. Texas opened the scoring in the third, as Ronald Guzman doubled just inside the right field foul line and came home when Choo followed with a double into left field.

The Rangers added to the lead with two outs in the fourth, as Santana made Clevinger pay for a four-pitch walk to Willie Calhoun by sending a first-pitch fastball over the centre field wall. Santana's homer was his fifth of the season and first since May 19. After Lindor's homer trimmed Texas' lead to 3-1 in the fifth, the Rangers doubled their advantage in the bottom of the inning.

Clevinger issued a pair of walks before exiting the contest. Andrus greeted Tyler Clippard with a double into the left-field corner to plate Choo and Delino DeShields. Santana scored on a wild pitch from Tyler Olson in the sixth inning, and Mathis recorded an RBI for the second straight game with a run-scoring single to stake Texas to a 7-1 lead. Mercado answered a four-RBI performance in Sunday's 8-0 romp over Detroit by belting a solo homer into the seats in left field in the eighth inning to cap the scoring.