In the AL Central divisional matchup of the Indians and Royals—which could be dubbed, “The Battle of the Basement”—Cleveland hosted Kansas City in the first of a three-game series at Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH.
Current cellar-dweller Kansas City jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Indians pitcher, Anthony Reyes, jumping ahead in the count and throwing a load of strikes in his previous starts, opened this game by walking Mike Aviles.
After a groundout moved Aviles to second, David DeJesus doubled to center, making Reyes pay for the walk. A pair of flyouts limited the damage to one run.
The Indians struck back in the bottom of the second.
Shin-Soo Choo hit the first pitch he saw out of the park over the center-field fence, making it a 1-1 game. Ryan Garko singled to left. On a Kelly Shoppach double, Garko motored all the way around from first base after it appeared left fielder Jose Guillen pulled up instead of cutting the ball off.
That made it 2-1 Indians, with one out. Andy Marte flied out for the second out, and Asdrubal Cabrera delivered the two-out RBI single, scoring Shoppach. Royals starting pitcher Luke Hochevar had an extremely slow delivery to the plate, and Cabrera, not known for his wheels, stole second, his third stolen base of the season.
His slow-motion burst of speed was wasted when Grady Sizemore ended the inning with a flyout.
The Indians added a run in the fourth when Garko homered to left with nobody on and nobody out.
The Royals got the run back in the top of the fifth, narrowing the lead to 4-2. Aviles was the guy crossing the plate again for the Royals. He singled and moved to second after Esteban German walked. DeJesus grounded out, but moved both runners up, and Guillen’s groundout scored Aviles.
Mark Teahen flied out to end the inning.
Donnelly came on in relief of Reyes in the top of the sixth. He walked Gload with one out, and then gave up singles to Olivo and Smith, scoring Gload. Choo backhanded Smith’s single and fired a one-hop strike to third, nailing Olivo for the second out.
Aviles had his third hit of the night, which would have easily scored Olivo from second had he not tried for third, and the game would have been tied. As it was, Donelly struck out German to hold the lead at 4-3.
In the bottom of the sixth, Hochevar left the game before throwing a pitch, pulling a muscle in his side during warm-ups. Nunez relieved, and the Indians took advantage. With one out, Shoppach walked.
Marte ripped a double to the wall, moving Shoppach to third. The Royals played Cabrera perfectly, shading the shortstop toward second, and Cabrera was thrown out while the runners stayed put. Sizemore jumped all over the first pitch for his 28th home run of the year, giving the Indians a 7-3 cushion.
Perez pitched a one-two-three seventh, and the Indians came back and scored a pair on three hits, opening up a 9-3 lead in the bottom of the eighth.
Masa Kobayashi came on in the ninth, hoping for a quick inning. That wasn’t to be, as he allowed a run on three hits, but did finish off the game, winning 9-4.
Reyes ended up picking up the win, even though he left after five. Hochevar took the loss.
These two resume play Wednesday night at 7:05. Righty Gil Meche (10-9, 4.13 ERA) goes up against Cleveland's lefty Zack Jackson (0-0, 5.19 ERA).
Rafael Betancourt came on in the eighth, taking the Royals down in order. The Royals matched the Indians in hits—13.
The Indians had three home runs: Choo (fifth), Garko (10th), and Sizemore (28th). Sizemore, Gutierrez, Garko, and Cabrera had two hits. All nine guys for the Indians registered a hit in the win.
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