Almonte, Perez lead outburst to back Kluber

ARLINGTON — The Rangers and Indians have each put their Cy Young candidate on display this series. On Friday night, it was Corey Kluber’s turn to show why he belongs in the discussion, and he did just that in a 12-1 victory at Globe Life Park.

One night after Texas lefty Cole Hamels dazzled the Tribe, Kluber answered with a strong six-inning performance against the American League West leaders. The righty struck out seven, sidestepped the potential harm of seven baserunners and only flinched once, when Adrian Beltre launched a homer in the sixth.

“He’s been doing that. He’s a nice guy to have,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “Until the solo, he kept them off the scoreboard, which was terrific. It gave us a chance to get some offense going and add on, because we needed that tonight.”

Kluber has gone 4-0 with a 2.20 ERA in five August starts and 6-0 with a 1.75 ERA in his past nine turns for the AL Central-leading Indians.

By the time Beltre came through, Cleveland had already built a solid cushion against lefty Martin Perez, who was charged with six runs on 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings. Abraham Almonte (three hits and four RBIs) and Roberto Perez (four hits and three RBIs) led the way for the Indians, who had six players drive in at least one run.

“More than anything, it came down to execution tonight for Martin,” Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. “There were a number of 0-2 hits. I think the lack of execution was the story tonight.”

MOMENTS THAT MATTEREDAlmonte sparks offense: Leading up to this game, the Indians had scored three runs combined in the first four games of a road trip through Oakland and Texas. With a pair of doubles against the Rangers, Almonte drove in three all by himself on Friday night. The outfielder had an RBI double in the fourth, a two-run double in the sixth and added a run-scoring groundout in the ninth.

“I think I’ve got a huge responsibility to do my best every day,” Almonte said. “When Tito puts me in the lineup, he expects me to try to do my best. This is what I’m trying to do.”

Leadoff men left stranded: The Rangers put the leadoff man aboard in each of the first four innings, but were unable to score against Kluber in that span. Their best chance came in the fourth, when Beltre led off with an 11-pitch walk and Rougned Odor followed with a single. Kluber then retired Jonathan Lucroy, Mitch Moreland and Carlos Gomez in order. Kluber held Texas to a …

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