Andrus' personal hitting streak against Indians now No. 2 all-time
ARLINGTON, Texas - LeBron James. Art Modell. John Elway. Now you can add the Rangers' Elvis Andrus to the list of Cleveland's greatest sports villains.
Well, sort of. Cleveland fans may not have a great deal of hate for Andrus, but he sure likes to collect hits against the Tribe.
Andrus singled in the eighth inning Friday to extend his personal hitting streak against the Indians to 38 games, the second-longest in Major League Baseball since 1900.
Andrus is now tied with Jacoby Ellsbury who, while with Boston, had a 38-game hitting streak against Baltimore from April 17, 2009 to Aug. 15, 2012.
Andrus' streak against the Indians began on April 6, 2009 when he made his major league debut.
The all-time leader is former Ranger Vladimir Guerrero who, while with the Angels, had a 44-game hit streak against the Rangers from April 9, 2004 to Aug. 4, 2006.
After his base hit to right field, Andrus advanced on a walk, stole third and scored on a sacrifice fly by Adrian Beltre. That run gave the Rangers an extra cushion in an eventual 6-4 win.
It was Andrus' only hit in four plate appearances Friday, but he made it count for more than the extension of a personal streak.
"He's our catalyst, always been. And he's starting to put his game back together," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "Like I've said, the key for us to continue to be successful [is] we just have to get consistent. And it starts with Elvis, it starts with all of those guys."
Andrus was also a catalyst on defense. Just the half-inning before, Andrus showed his athleticism in turning an inning-ending double play to end a Cleveland threat.
Indians DH Carlos Santana barreled into second base and took out Andrus' legs in an attempt to break up the double play.
However, Andrus rolled through the collision and used his momentum to fire a throw to first and catch a slow-running Mike Aviles.
Follow Keith Whitmire on Twitter: @Keith_Whitmire
