Carmona, Garko lead Tribe’s victory

The Indians continued their late-season surge with a 7-5 win over the Rangers.

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Fausto Carmona pitched six strong innings and Ryan Garko had a two-run double as the Cleveland Indians continued their late-season surge with a 7-5 victory over the stumbling Texas Rangers on Friday night.

Carmona (6-5) allowed one run and six hits, struck out five and walked three as the Indians won for the 11th time in 14 games.

Carmona’s last start against the Rangers was on May 23, in a 13-9 loss at Cleveland. Carmona lasted a season-low two innings in that game, allowing six runs and five hits before leaving with a hip strain that landed him on the disabled list the following day.

Carmona’s recovery took more than two months before he returned to the rotation on July 26. He lost three of four decisions entering Friday.

Marlon Byrd’s three-run homer in the eighth off Rafael Perez got the Rangers within 5-4.

Jensen Lewis allowed a leadoff homer to Brandon Boggs in the ninth to make it 7-5. But Lewis got the final three outs for his fifth save, sending the Rangers to their 12th loss in 15 games.

Ben Francisco had three hits, including an RBI double in a two-run ninth off Eddie Guardado to stretch Cleveland’s lead to 7-4.

Rangers rookie Matt Harrison (5-3) was in trouble from the beginning of his ninth major league start as Garko’s two-run double in the first got the Indians offense rolling.

In the second, Andy Marte’s RBI triple, Asdrubal Cabrera’s sacrifice fly and Jhonny Peralta’s run-scoring single pushed the lead to 5-0. Harrison allowed five runs and seven hits in 3 2-3 innings.

Notes

LHP C.J. Wilson was back in the Rangers’ clubhouse to begin a 6-to-12 week rehab after undergoing season-ending surgery to remove bone chips in his left elbow. ... Rangers RHP Brandon McCarthy will be activated from the 60-day DL for his first big league start of the season Saturday. McCarthy hasn’t appeared in a major league game since Sept. 20, 2007. He’s been out since March 30 with right forearm inflammation. ... Cleveland C Victor Martinez and 2B Josh Barfield are on minor league rehab assignments, and DH Travis Hafner is likely to begin one soon. All three are expected to be activated in the next few weeks. ... The Rangers activated Hank Blalock from the 15-day DL before the game, with the former All-Star 3B making his major league debut at 1B. Blalock, who went 0-for-4, had been out since July 29 because of inflammation in his right shoulder.