All-Star Mike Minor and the Texas Rangers finally exhaled after the trade deadline. They haven't lost much since catching their breath.
Minor struck out seven over seven innings and combined with Jesse Chavez and Jose Leclerc to shut down the host Cleveland Indians 1-0 Monday night.
Nomar Mazara drove in Elvis Andrus with a sacrifice fly in the fourth, providing all the offense the Rangers needed to extend their winning streak to five. They've won seven of their past 10 games.
"We didn't know what was going to happen, so now that the deadline is in the past, we know this is the team we're going to have," said Minor, the subject of many trade rumors. "Before, we thought some guys would be gone, but since then, we kind of came together a little more and we're just going out to play baseball."
Minor (10-6), a first-time All-Star at age 31, is 3-0 in eight career appearances against Cleveland, giving up a lone run in 23⅓ innings.
The Indians, who are 37-16 since June 4, fell four games behind Central-leading Minnesota.
"We kind of caught him at his best," Cleveland manager Terry Francona said of Minor. "He could elevate, he could spin the breaking ball to the back foot of the righthanded hitters and he had a changeup. We caught him on a bad night."
Andrus led off the fourth with a triple, coming home a batter later when Mazara flew out to short center. Chavez worked a 1-2-3 eighth and Leclerc pitched the ninth for his seventh save, stranding Jose Ramirez at third base after his leadoff double.
