Cleveland Indians Win 7-0, Complete Sweep of Royals

The Cleveland Indians completed the four-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals with a 7-0 victory on a rainy afternoon in downtown Cleveland. Not even a three hour and ten minute rain delay could stop the Tribe from moving to 31-24 on the season and 1.5 games ahead in the division, their largest lead of the season and largest since 2013. The Royals, who came into the series with a 2.5 game lead, drop to 30-26 on the season.

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The Indians got another brilliant performance from their starting pitcher as ace Corey Kluber worked six nearly perfect innings before the rain ended his day. He worked six shutout innings allowing just two hits, two walks and striking out six. Both hits, singles, came in the first inning. Kluber did not allow a Royal to reach second base again until the sixth inning when Jarrod Dyson stole second after reaching on a walk. The victory moved Kluber to 5-6 on the season. After the rain delay, Zach McAllister relieved Kluber and worked two perfect innings before Austin Adams worked a scoreless 9th to preserve the shutout victory.

It was a home run derby for the Indians on offense against Royals starter Chris Young. After Jason Kipnis tripled in the 1st inning and Francisco Lindor drove him in with a sacrifice fly, the Indians proceeded to hit four solo home runs off Young before knocking him out after 4 2/3 innings. Mike Napoli hit the first home run in the 4th inning and then the Tribe hit three in the 5th, one each by Tyler Naquin, Carlos Santana, and Lindor. It was Naquin’s third home run in as many days after not hitting one in the first two months in the big leagues. Santana’s home run was his 10th of the season, making it the quickest he’s reached the milestone in his career. Lindor’s was his 6th of the season and was the knockout blow for Young. The Indians added two more runs after the long rain delay. Santana and Lindor each had RBI singles to stretch the Tribe’s lead to 7-0.

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The Indians won’t have long to bask in their series sweep as they head to Seattle to take on the Mariners in a four-game series. Trevor Bauer (3-2, 4.27 ERA) will get the start for the Indians in the series opener. The Mariners will counter with James Paxton (0-1, 7.36) who will be making his second start of the season replacing the injured Felix Fernandez. After their four games with the Mariners, the Indians will head to Los Angeles to take on the Angels for three games before heading to Kansas City for three against the Royals to complete the long 10-game road trip.