Lindor has HR, 4 RBIs to help Indians beat Royals 5-1
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CLEVELAND (AP) Francisco Lindor, making a late run for AL Rookie of the Year, was 3 for 4 with a home run and four RBIs to lead the Cleveland Indians to a 5-1 win over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night.
Danny Salazar (13-8) took a three-hit shutout into the seventh before Mike Moustakas started the inning with a home run. The right-hander allowed one run and struck out six in seven innings.
Lindor, who matched his career high in hits and RBIs, had a solo homer in the first for his 100th hit since being called up from the minors on June 14. He added a two-run single in the second and an RBI single in the fourth.
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Lindor also began the fifth with an outstanding play at shortstop. He dove to his left to come up with Alex Rios' ground ball and made a one-hop throw to first from his knees for the out.
The Indians (72-72) got back to .500 and remained in contention for the second wild-card spot in the AL.
Danny Duffy (7-8) allowed four runs in 2 1/3 innings for Kansas City, which has dropped nine of 12.
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Lindor drove a 1-0 pitch several rows deep in the left-field bleachers in the first. Following Jason Kipnis' RBI single in the second, the switch-hitter punched a hit through the right side for a 4-0 lead.
Lindor's first two hits came from the right side against the left-handed Duffy. His fourth-inning single was off right-hander Jeremy Guthrie.
Lindor, 21, was Cleveland's No. 1 draft pick in 2011, the eighth overall. He began the season at Triple-A Columbus.
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Cleveland entered play five games behind Houston, but also trailed Minnesota and Los Angeles in the wild-card race.
Kansas City was a season-high 31 games over .500 (82-51) on Sept. 3 before its recent rough stretch. The Royals were still 10 games ahead of Minnesota in the AL Central.
TRAINER'S ROOM
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Royals: OF Lorenzo Cain was in the lineup after being removed in the ninth inning Tuesday. He was hit on the leg by a pitch earlier in the game and twisted his ankle Monday.
UP NEXT
Royals: RHP Yordano Ventura has won three of his last four road starts, raising his season mark in away games to 4-3 with a 5.15 ERA.
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Indians: RHP Corey Kluber returns to the mound for the first time since Aug. 29. He's 1-3 in four starts this season against the Royals.