Cleveland, OH – Tony Abreu hit the go-ahead RBI single in the top of the 14th inning as the Kansas City Royals edged the Cleveland Indians, 7-6, in the middle installment of a three-game series at Progressive Field.
Facing Scott Maine (1-2), Mike Moustakas drew a leadoff walk and went to second on a wild pitch. Abreu followed and hit a soft fly single up the middle to plate Moustakas, putting the Royals in front.
Vin Mazzaro (4-3) got the win after allowing just one hit over two scoreless innings. Kelvin Herrera gave up two hits in the bottom of the 14th, but worked out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam to notch his third save of the season.
"Today was a difficult game but it was fun. The guys came back and they fought early in the game," Indians interim manager Sandy Alomar Jr. said. "Then the bullpen did a remarkable job."
Jeff Francoeur belted a three run homer and Billy Butler added an RBI single while Moustakas had a two-run double for the Royals, who halted a six-game slide.
Shin-Soo Choo stroked a two-run single and Lonnie Chisenhall contributed an RBI double among three hits for the Indians, who had a three-game winning streak snapped.
After giving up the go-ahead knock in the top of the 14th, the Indians had a golden opportunity to walk off with the victory in the bottom half.
Ezequiel Carrera started the inning with a bunt single and Choo followed with a base hit to right. Jason Kipnis then walked to put Herrera in a bind. Carlos Santana then flied out and Chisenhall hit a rocket to right field, but it was right at Francoeur for the second out. Herrera got Casey Kotchman to ground out weakly to first to end the game.
Cleveland opened the scoring in its first at-bat. Kipnis got things started with a one-out walk and Chisenhall followed with an RBI double into the right field corner.
Kansas City exploded for six runs in the third to take control of the game. Irving Falu got the rally going with a two-out single and moved to second on a wild pitch before Alex Gordon walked. Butler then stroked an RBI single to left.
Salvador Perez beat out an infield hit to load the bases and Moustakas brought home a pair with a double into right field. Francoeur provided the big blast of the inning when he crushed a three-run shot over the left field wall to widen the margin to 6-1.
The Tribe got a run back in the sixth when Travis Hafner was hit by a pitch and Thomas Neal singled. Carrera reached and Hafner was able to score when Nate Adcock then fired the ball into the stands, making it a 6-2 game.
A two-run single by Choo in the Cleveland eighth cut the deficit to two, and the Indians got even in the ninth inning.
Santana opened the inning by coaxing a leadoff walk from Greg Holland and Chisenhall dropped a bloop single behind third base. Both runners moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Kotchman and Cabrera came up with a two-out, two-strike, two-run double into the right-center field gap to tie the game at six.
"The game doesn't get tied up if I don't walk the leadoff man. You're not always going to get away with that and I didn't tonight," Holland said.
Game Notes
It was the fourth time this season that the Royals struck for six runs in one inning ... Kansas City has won 10 of the last 13 meetings between the teams ... The Indians finished 3-for-21 with runners in scoring position and left 20 men on base.
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