Royals score early, turn back Tribe

Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Derek Lowe, left, hands the ball to manager Manny Acta during the third inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., Tuesday.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Alcides Escobar drove in three runs, Luke Hochevar pitched six solid innings, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Cleveland Indians 8-3 Tuesday night to snap a five-game losing streak.

Escobar had two hits for his 34th multihit game, raising his average to a team-leading .307. Jarrod Dyson and Alex Gordon had three hits each, and Chris Getz had two hits and drove in two runs. The Royals scored all their runs in the first three innings.

Hochevar settled down after giving up three runs over the second and third innings. One run scored on Johnny Damon's infield single in the second when Hochevar failed to cover first base. In the third, Asdrubal Cabrera scored on Hochevar's wild pitch.

Hochevar (7-9) gave up three runs on seven hits and three walks. He struck out six.

The Royals broke open the game with a five-run third, highlighted by Getz's two-run double and Escobar's RBI triple. The third was one shy of the club's biggest inning this season.

Indians starter Derek Lowe (8-10) failed to finish the third and balked in a run. Lowe was pulled after allowing seven runs on eight hits, two walks and a balk in 2 1-3 innings.

In his past three starts, Lowe is 0-3 with a 15.88 ERA, allowing 20 earned runs and 23 hits in 11 1-3 innings. Since starting the season 6-1 with a 2.05 ERA on May 15, Lowe is 2-9 and his ERA has climbed to 5.52.

Lorenzo Cain, who also had two hits, had a run-producing single in the first. In the second, Escobar's single to right scored Getz and Dyson.

NOTES: The Royals finished July with a 7-19 record. . Indians RF Shin-Soo Choo struck out four times. ... The Red Sox acquired right-handed knuckleballer Steven Wright from the Indians for first baseman Lars Anderson on Tuesday. Wright was 9-6 with a 2.49 ERA at Double-A Akron. Boston, which had knuckleballer Tim Wakefield in its rotation for many years, assigned Wright to Double-A Portland. The 27-year-old Wright has never pitched in the majors. In six minor league seasons, he is 38-33 with a 3.95 ERA. He is holding opponents to a .207 batting average this year, best in the Eastern League. The 24-year-old Anderson hit .259 with nine homers and 52 RBIs at Triple-A Pawtucket. Anderson has spent parts of the last three seasons with the Red Sox, batting .167 in 30 games. He was 1 for 8 in six games this season. ... The Indians failed to make a big league deal before the deadline. "Everybody would like to add help, but I'm not disappointed because I didn't know what I'd lose," Indians manager Manny Acta said. "I was not anticipating much. We're in the thick of things and we have no veteran guys we can move." The Indians entered Tuesday in third place in the AL Central, five games behind the Chicago White Sox. "If you can't make up five games in 60 days, you don't deserve to be in the playoffs," Acta said. .With the Royals trading closer RHP Jonathan Broxton to the Reds for two minor league pitchers, manager Ned Yost said RHP Greg Holland would be used as the closer. The Royals will bring up a reliever Wednesday to take Broxton's roster spot.