Cleveland Indians Lose 2-1 to Royals as Offense Falls Flat

The Cleveland Indians were stymied by the Royals’ pitching Monday night as they fell 2-1 in Kansas City. The loss dropped the Indians to 35-28 on the season while the win moved the Royals to 33-30. The Indians lead in the American League Central by two games now over the Royals.

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Indians’ starter Carlos Carrasco pitched well in a tough-luck loss falling to 2-2 on the season.  While Carrasco was hardly at his best, allowing 10 hits and a walk, he allowed just two runs and struck out eight in six innings of work. The Royals got on the board in the 1st inning thanks to a misplayed liner to Lonnie Chisenhall in right field that went for a leadoff triple for Whit Merrifield.  Merrifield would score one batter later on Alcides Escobar‘s RBI single giving the Royals a 1-0 lead.

The score would remain 1-0 until the bottom of the 4th inning when Merrifield hit a solo home run, the first home run of his career, giving the Royals a 2-0 lead. That would be all the scoring for the Royals as Jeff Manship and Joba Chamberlain each worked a scoreless inning of work in relief of Carrasco.

Offensively the Indians were flat out lost against Royals’ starter Edinson Volquez (6-6) who worked seven scoreless innings allowing just two hits. He did walk four, including walking the bases loaded in the first inning. However, the Indians went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position on the night and left seven on base. The only run of the game for the Tribe came in the top of the 8th inning when Jason Kipnis hit a solo home run off reliever Kelvin Herrera. Kipnis and Chisenhall accounted for all four of the Tribe’s hits on the night, with each collecting a pair. Wade Davis picked up his 18th save for the Royals after working a scoreless 9th inning.

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The Indians and Royals will go back at it Tuesday night. Josh Tomlin (8-1, 3.48 ERA) will go for his team-leading ninth win of the season while Chris Young (2-6, 6.37) will counter for the Royals. The Indians will look to get the offense back in gear against Young, who they hit four home runs off of the last time they faced him. First pitch is scheduled for 8:15 pm at Kaufmann Stadium.