CLEVELAND (Interstat) — Justin Foscue drove in two runs with a pair of doubles, Robby Ahlstrom pitched a scoreless inning in relief and the Texas Rangers defeated the Cleveland Guardians 6-3 on Monday night at Progressive Field.

The Rangers won their fourth straight game and improved to 43-42, while the Guardians dropped to 44-41 in front of an announced crowd of 20,379. The game lasted 2 hours, 43 minutes.

Texas broke a 2-2 tie in the seventh inning, then added two insurance runs in the ninth to secure the victory.

Texas starter Chris Paddack worked four innings, allowing seven hits and two earned runs with one strikeout. Ahlstrom entered in the sixth and retired the only batter he faced to earn the win, improving to 2-0. Jacob Latz pitched the final two innings, allowing no hits and striking out one, to pick up his 16th save of the season.

Cleveland starter Parker Messick took the loss, falling to 7-5. He allowed eight hits and four earned runs over 6 2/3 innings, striking out five.

The Rangers opened the scoring in the fourth inning. Josh Jung led off with a double, moved to third on a groundout by Ezequiel Duran and scored on a groundout by Jake Burger.

Cleveland answered in the fifth. Gabriel Arias led off with a solo home run, his third of the season, to left-center field. Austin Hedges followed with a single, advanced to second on a groundout and scored on a two-out double by Chase DeLauter, giving the Guardians a 2-1 lead.

Texas tied it in the sixth. Evan Carter singled, moved to second on a fielder’s choice and scored on a single by Burger. The inning ended with the score 2-2.

The pivotal moment came in the top of the seventh. Cameron Cauley tripled to right field and scored on a single by Nicky Lopez. After Evan Carter struck out, Foscue doubled down the left-field line, scoring Lopez to give Texas a 4-2 lead.

Cleveland cut the deficit to 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh. Brayan Rocchio singled and DeLauter singled, putting runners on first and third. Kyle Manzardo then hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Rocchio. The Guardians loaded the bases but failed to score further as Kahlil Watson grounded out.

The Rangers added critical insurance in the ninth. Alejandro Osuna singled, and Cauley walked. After Lopez struck out, Carter singled to left field, but Osuna was thrown out at home trying to score. Foscue then stepped to the plate and laced a double to left field that scored Cauley and Carter, extending the lead to 6-3. The play also included a fielding error by left fielder Steven Kwan.

Latz retired the Guardians in order in the ninth, striking out Austin Hedges and inducing two lineouts to seal the win.

Key performances included Foscue going 2-for-5 with two RBIs and two doubles. Cameron Cauley tripled and scored twice. For Cleveland, DeLauter had two hits and an RBI, and Arias homered. Colin Holderman struck out three in 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the Guardians.

The game marked the first meeting between the teams since June 5-7, when the two clubs split a three-game series in Texas. The Rangers took the opener 3-2, the Guardians won 6-0 and the Rangers won the finale 10-0.

Texas continues its road trip Tuesday with the second game of the series against Cleveland. The Guardians will look to even the set before a home series against the Chicago White Sox.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Texas 6, Cleveland 4. Interstat’s ELO system gave Cleveland a 54.60 percent probability to win. Cleveland had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total of 9 runs went under the over-under line of 8.