Indians beat Royals as Santana, Gomes homer
7/6/2014CLEVELAND — Corey Kluber allowed four hits and struck out 10 in 8 1-3 innings, and Carlos Santana and Yan Gomes homered, leading the Cleveland Indians to a 4-1 win over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.
Kluber (8-6) took a three-hitter into the ninth before Eric Hosmer started the inning with a double. The right-hander, who gave up a solo homer to Mike Moustakas in the fifth, was pulled after striking out Salvador Perez.
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Cody Allen recorded the final two outs for his ninth save.
Both of Cleveland’s home runs came off Danny Duffy (5-8) in the second. Santana led off the inning with a line drive that barely cleared the fence in right. Gomes followed with a two-run homer to center.
Kluber, who has been Cleveland’s ace all season, retired the first seven hitters before Jarrod Dyson’s infield single with one out in the third. Shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera backhanded the ball and made a leaping throw to first. Santana caught the ball on one hop, but the speedy Dyson beat the throw by a step.
Kluber allowed three runs over 20 2-3 innings in his last three starts, but lost twice thanks to lack of run support. He held the Dodgers to one run in 6 2-3 innings on Monday, but was the losing pitcher in a 1-0 defeat.
Michael Brantley, who went 2 for 4 to raise his average to .321, had an RBI single in the fifth.
Santana’s homer came on a 1-1 pitch and was his 13th of the season, tying him with Brantley for the team lead. Ryan Raburn followed with a single, and Gomes hit his 10th home run on a 1-0 pitch.
Cleveland has won four of five and moved within two games of second-place Kansas City in the AL Central. The Royals, who trail first-place Detroit by 4 1-2 games, dropped their first road series since losing two of three against the Los Angeles Angels from May 23-25.
Duffy allowed 10 hits and struck out six in six innings. The left-hander had a 1.69 ERA in six June starts and was 3-1 with a 1.05 ERA in his last four road starts.
Moustakas is 7 for 18 against Kluber.
The Indians placed leadoff hitter and center fielder Michael Bourn on the disabled list with a strained left hamstring. Bourn has been battling the injury all season and hurt it again running the bases on Saturday.
Left fielder Alex Gordon and designated hitter Billy Butler, who are both in lengthy slumps, were out of Sunday’s lineup. Gordon is mired in a 3 for 40 skid, and Butler has just three hits in 26 at-bats.
NOTES: The Royals signed LHP Scott Downs, who was released by the White Sox on Thursday. He pitched a scoreless seventh inning. RHP Casey Coleman was optioned to Triple-A Omaha. ... The Indians called up OF Tyler Holt from Triple-A Columbus to take Bourn’s roster spot. Holtz made his major league debut as a defensive replacement in the ninth. ... Royals OF Nori Aoki (strained left groin) will begin a rehab assignment with Double-A Northwest Arkansas this week. ... RHP Justin Masterson (4-5), who lasted three innings in his last start, will open Cleveland’s four-game series against the Yankees on Monday. ... The Royals continue their nine-game road trip Monday at Tampa Bay with RHP James Shields (8-4) facing his former team.