Indians rout orioles, Darvish downs pirates

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

The Cleveland Indians took what was given on Saturday, and the Baltimore Orioles gave them plenty.

Yan Gomes drove in three runs to lead a 13-hit attack, the Indians scored six times in the first two innings and Cleveland rolled to an 11-4 win over the Orioles.

Cleveland capitalized on four errors that led to six unearned runs in building the lead. Gomes’ two-run single highlighted a four-run first, and he added an RBI single in the fifth.

Mike Napoli drove in two runs for the Indians, who moved into first place in the AL Central.

“We started off pretty good,” said Napoli, who was also involved in a double steal. “Putting pressure on other people had a little bit to do with it. We put some good at-bats together.”

Danny Salazar (5-3), who allowed two runs in six innings, admitted the early runs were crucial.

“That’s great,” he said. “It gave me a little more confidence to go out there. That made the game a little bit easier for us.”

Salazar rebounded from his worst start of the season, giving up a run in the fifth and another in the sixth. The right-hander, who allowed four runs in 41/3 innings Sunday in Boston, gave up six hits and struck out five.

Ubaldo Jimenez (2-6) was charged with six runs in 12/3 innings.

Darvish downs Pirates

ARLINGTON, Texas

Yu Darvish struck out seven in five strong innings in his first start in the majors in almost 22 months, and the Texas Rangers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-2 on Saturday night.

The Japanese right-hander allowed three singles with a walk in his return from last year’s Tommy John surgery, ending Pittsburgh’s five-game winning streak.

Adrian Beltre had a two-run homer in the first inning off Juan Nicasio (3-3) to become the fourth third baseman with at least 1,500 RBIs, finishing with 1,501.

Mitch Moreland snapped a 1-for-27 skid with a solo home run in the fourth.

The “Yuuu” calls from a sellout crowd started early for Darvish, who last pitched in the big leagues on Aug. 9, 2014.

Four Texas relievers allowed four hits and a run with four strikeouts in four innings.