ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers’ offense picked up where it left off in June, even though Josh Hamilton’s hot streak at home and their 17-hit attack wasn’t on the minds of players after a 12-1 rout of the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night.

Both teams were shaken after the game was delayed 16 min­utes in the fifth inning when a male spectator fell about 30 feet from the second deck while attempting to catch a foul ball.

Nelson Cruz of the Rangers had fouled a pitch into the club level in Section 235 along the first base line. The ball hit a seat behind the spectator, who was reaching to snag it before losing his balance and tumbling back­ward onto the seats below.

More photos below.

The man was taken by ambu­lance to the John Peter Smith Hospital emergency room, where a team spokesman said he was responsive and able to move all of his extremities.

“I looked up and saw him starting to come down. He hit the luxury box area and came straight down,” Cleveland left fielder Trevor Crowe said. “It’s one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen.

“All I could think about was to start praying for the guy. There was nothing to brace his fall or anything. I was just scared that he might have killed himself.”

Indians shortstop Jason Donald looked away when the ball went foul, but the sound of the man’s body striking the seats told him that something bad had happened.

“My head was turned, but I heard the crowd react and heard the body hit,” Donald said. “I was hoping he didn’t die. It was really scary. It puts everything in perspective. This is a game and somebody potentially could have lost his life.”

Rangers president Nolan Ryan was thankful that the man seemed responsive and was able to move his limbs. The team did not release the man’s name.

“The preliminary indications are that it could have been a lot worse,” Ryan said.

Out on the field, Rangers starter C.J. Wilson (7-4) allowed only one run and three hits over six innings, and he got plenty of support from an offense that was slumping. Texas was averaging 2.6 runs in the first five games of July after leading the majors with a .311 average in June.

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The Rangers were able to refocus after the game resumed. Vladimir Guerrero added a two-run homer in a five-run sixth inning, Cruz and David Murphy also went deep, and Joaquin Arias finished with a career-high four RBIs.

“We’re pros and we had a job to do,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “As long as we had to go back on the field, we had to get refocused and go out there.”

Jayson Nix homered for Cleveland, connecting three times in a span of five at-bats including a two-homer game in Monday night’s series opener.

Andres Blanco’s two-run double in the fourth off Justin Masterson (3-8) gave Texas a 3-1 lead, and Arias’ three-run double in the sixth stretched it to 6-1. Masterson allowed seven runs and nine hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Cleveland had won seven of its previous nine.

The trend of hit batters continued after Cleveland’s Austin Kearns was plunked three times by three different pitchers in Monday night’s series opener. Each team had two hit batters in the first five innings, although the umpires didn’t issue a warning to either team.

ARLINGTON, Texas — Indi­ans first baseman Matt LaPorta was given Tuesday night off after taking an acci­dental elbow to the head from the Texas Rangers’ Elvis Andrus.

The Indians said that LaPorta did not sustain a con­cussion when he was hit cov­ering first base during Mon­day night’s 9-3 victory over the Rangers. Still, manager Manny Acta wasn’t taking any chances and kept LaPorta out of the lineup.

The incident happened in the third inning when Andrus ran past first base trying to beat out a slow grounder. LaPorta backed into the basepath to attempt to short­hop the throw, and Andrus accidentally clipped him across the head with his elbow.

LaPorta fell onto his back with his eyes closed, and was down for several minutes before remaining in the game. He eventually was replaced in the fourth by Andy Marte.

LaPorta was sent to a hospi­tal for a CT scan on Monday night, which was negative. But he has a bruise on his head and his neck is sore.

“I feel a lot better today,” LaPorta said Tuesday. “I don’t know if I got knocked out, but for a couple of seconds there I wasn’t normal. To say I really got knocked out, I don’t know.”

LaPorta sustained a con­cussion when he was struck in the head by a pitch while playing for Team USA in the 2008 Olympics, and the Indi­ans wanted to make sure LaPorta was OK.

“That’s a delicate thing and we’re just being cautious with him,” Acta said.

Of the 2008 concussion, LaPorta said, “That was a little worse. I had that for a couple of weeks. I got hit in the head with a (pitched ball). It kind of missed my helmet and hit right underneath in the back.” The Indians also got a posi­tive medical report on right fielder Shin-Soo Choo, who’s on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained right thumb.

Choo’s thumb was exam­ined on Tuesday morning in Cleveland by Dr. Thomas Gra­ham, a hand specialist, and he won’t need surgery. Choo will wear a brace and will be eval­uated again after the All-Star break, and could be back sooner than the projected 6 to 8 weeks.

“It’s good news, but we’re still going to have to wait … and see where that takes us,” Acta said. “But that will be a great boost for us if he doesn’t need to have that surgery and we can have him back a lot shorter than we were antici­pating. A lot quicker.”

ELYRIA — An air-conditioning unit in a third-floor bedroom started a fire that caused about $10,000 in damage to a Furnace Street home this morning.

Firefighters responded to the fire, at 519 Furnace, a little before 10:30 a.m. They were on the scene about an hour.

Everyone got out of the home OK and stood on the sidewalk to watch as firefighters battled light smoke that came from the rear of the home.

Sareesce Groves and his family of 10 will be put up by the American Red Cross. The home isn’t inhabitable right now because the electrical meter was pulled, according to Assistant Fire Chief Tim Mitchell.

Groves said he believed the fire was contained to one bedroom. He didn’t know the extent of smoke and water damage.

Furnace Street was blocked while firefighters extinguish the fire.

Mitchell said air conditioners causing fires is not common.

“It might have been the age of it, or it might have overheated,” he said.

ARLINGTON, Texas — Matt LaPorta hit a two-run homer, then later took an accidental elbow to the head and left the game Monday night as the Cleveland Indians beat the Texas Rangers 9-3.

Jayson Nix homered twice and rookie Carlos Santana also connected to help the Indians win for the seventh time in nine games.

Texas slugger Nelson Cruz had a three-run homer wiped out after umpires watched a replay and correctly overturned the call. The

AL-West leading Rangers have lost five of seven.

LaPorta homered in the top of the third, but the Cleveland first baseman sustained a bruise on his head in the bottom half.

With Julio Borbon on first, Elvis Andrus hit a slow grounder and hustled down the line. Shortstop Jason Donald bounced his throw and Andrus hit LaPorta in the back of the head as he ran past the base.

A dazed LaPorta fell on his back as the ball rolled into foul territory for a throwing error. Indians teammates were unable track down the ball in time to prevent Borbon from racing home to make it 4-1.

LaPorta was down for several minutes. He remained in the game for the rest of the inning and was replaced by Andy Marte in the fourth.

The Indians got 12 hits. Cleveland’s Austin Kearns was hit by a pitch three times, by three different pitchers.

Indians starter Aaron Laffey was staked to a 6-2 lead, but was unable to get out of the fifth to qualify for the decision.

Joe Smith (1-1) allowed two hits in 12/3 innings of scoreless relief for his first major league victory.

Laffey gave up one earned run and five hits in 41/3 innings before being pulled after throwing 101 pitches.

LaPorta and Santana homered off Omar Beltre (0-1) in the third inning of the rookie’s second big league start, giving the Indians a 4-0 lead.

Beltre allowed four runs and four hits in three innings. He went four innings in his major league debut against the Los Angeles Angels on June 30.

Josh Hamilton extended his home hitting streak to 25 games, second-longest in club history, with a fourth-inning single. Al Oliver holds the home record with a 30-game streak in 1981.

The Rangers added a run in the sixth when home plate umpire Bob Davidson called a balk on Smith, scoring Bengie Molina from third to make it 7-3. Smith stepped off the rubber, then fired to first to pick off Borbon, but Davidson immediately called the balk.

Davidson also called a balk in the seventh on Texas’ Pedro Strop.

Texas trailed 9-3 when Cruz lost his home run. The drive down the right-field line appeared to sail to the right of the foul pole, yet he circled the bases as the fans celebrated.

After the umpires reviewed the call and reversed it, Cruz returned to the batter’s box and struck out.

Notes

• Nix had his second career two-homer game.
• Texas RHP Alexi Ogando hadn’t allowed a run in the first 11 innings of his career until he gave up Nix’s two-run homer in the seventh.
• Cleveland RF Shin-Soo Choo will have his sprained right thumb examined on Tuesday to determine if surgery is necessary. The Indians originally projected that Choo would be out for several weeks, and a timetable for his return will be set pending Tuesday’s exam by Dr. Thomas Graham in Cleveland.
• Rangers 1B Justin Smoak snapped an 0-for-25 slump with a single in the sixth.

Tonight

• Who: Cleveland at Texas
• Time: 8:05
• Where: Rangers Ballpark in Arlington
• Pitchers: Masterson (3-7, 4.85 ERA) vs. Wilson (6-4, 3.34)
• TV/radio: STO; WEOL 930-AM, WTAM 1100-AM