Indians 6, Royals 4
Matt LaPorta hit a grand slam and the Cleveland Indians outlasted the weather and the Kansas City Royals for a 6-4 victory on Saturday night at Kauffman Stadium in a contest that was delayed four times and 3 1/2 hours by rain.
Michael Brantley and Shin-Soo Choo had two hits for Cleveland, which took a 7-6 series lead and will try to complete the road sweep Sunday afternoon.
Brantley extended his hitting streak to a current major-league high 18 games, the longest streak by a Tribe rookie since Larry Doby hit in 21 straight in 1948.
Jai Miller hit his first career homer and Mike Aviles homered for the fourth time in five games for the Royals, who have lost 11 of 13.
Kansas City starter Sean O’Sullivan (2-6) retired the first nine batters before Brantley, Asdrubal Cabrera and Choo delivered singles in the fourth to stake Cleveland to a 1-0 lead. Three batters later LaPorta cracked his first career grand slam with two outs for a 5-0 edge.
Cleveland starter Justin Masterson yielded three hits over 3 1/3 innings but didn’t return after the rain in the fourth. Four relievers bridged the gap to closer Chris Perez, who earned his 21st save with a scoreless ninth.