Cleveland, OH – Jason Kipnis knocked in three runs and the Cleveland Indians gave new manager Sandy Alomar Jr. a win in his debut in an 8-5 triumph over the Kansas City Royals.
Alomar took over for Manny Acta, who was dismissed on Thursday. Alomar is serving as skipper on an interim basis for the remainder of the season.
"I was just happy I finally made it to the dugout and I got to relax a little bit," Alomar said.
Shin-Soo Choo went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI. Cleveland left- hander David Huff (3-0) pitched well enough to earn the win in just his third start of the year. He pitched six innings of three-run ball. Huff allowed eight hits, but struck out five and walked none.
Cleveland's bats got rolling in the second, scoring at least a run in four consecutive innings to give Huff a commanding seven-run lead with which to work.
Lonnie Chisenhall went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored and Brent Lillibridge added two hits and scored twice.
Cord Phelps and Ezequiel Carrera each had an RBI for the Indians, who have won three in a row.
Royals starter Will Smith (6-9) lasted three-plus innings, giving up six runs on nine hits, while striking out two and walking a pair. He was yanked in the fourth with no outs and a runner on second after giving up a single and an RBI double to the first two batters of the inning.
"I just wasn't controlling the ball well," Smith said.
Billy Butler hit a two-run homer in the sixth and Salvador Perez knocked in two for the Royals, losers of their last six.
Kansas City took an early lead by scoring a run in the second. After Perez and Mike Moustakas both hit singles, Adam Moore stroked an RBI double to left field.
The Tribe offense came to life in bottom of the frame, racking up five consecutive hits off Smith. After Chisenhall and Lillibridge hit consecutive singles to put runners at the corners, Carrera hit another single to bring home Chisenhall.
Choo followed with an RBI double off the wall in left, and then Phelps another single to knock in Carrera, making the score 3-1.
Cleveland tacked on another run in the third, when Chisenhall hit a two-out double to right to bring home Russ Canzler, who had reached base on a single.
In the fourth, the Indians went up 6-1 on another RBI double from Choo that scored Carrera, with Choo eventually scoring on a fielder's choice grounder from Kipnis.
Cleveland took a commanding seven-run lead in the fifth batting against reliever Everett Teaford. With two outs and the bases loaded, Kipnis hit a single to left field to score Lillibridge and Carrera.
After Butler's blast got two back for the Royals in the sixth, Kansas City climbed closer in the eighth on a two-RBI single from Perez that brought home Alex Gordon and Butler.
Cleveland's bullpen buckled down with Chris Perez tossing a 1-2-3 ninth inning to earn his 39th save of the year.
Game Notes
The 2012 season will mark just the fifth time in the 19-year history of Progressive Field (1994-2012) for the Indians (35-41) to finish with a sub-.500 home record ... Kansas City shortstop Alcides Escobar and first baseman Eric Hosmer are both nursing right shoulder injuries suffered in Thursday night's 5-4 loss to Detroit and were held out of lineup.
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