Indians 8, Royals 3
Shin Soo-Choo had two hits and two RBIs and Cleveland rode a seven-run first inning to spoil Kansas City's home opener.
Jason Kipnis had a two-run triple in the opening frame and Asdrubal Cabrera homered in the ninth as the Indians won for the fifth time in the last six games at Kauffman Stadium.
Cleveland starter Derek Lowe (2-0) was the beneficiary of the early onslaught, going 6 2/3 innings and allowing three runs on 11 hits. He struck out two and didn't walk a batter.
The Indians sent 11 batters to the plate in the first inning and rocked Royals starter Luke Hochevar (1-1) for seven runs and eight hits.
Choo got Cleveland on the board with a two-run single, Kipnis added a two-run triple and Michael Brantley capped the uprising with an RBI double - his second hit of the inning.
Choo is batting .600 (15-for-25) lifetime against Hochevar, whose day came to a painful ending when he was hit in the left ankle by a line drive off the bat of Cleveland's Carlos Santana on the final out of the fourth inning.
Alex Gordon had two hits and an RBI and and Yuniesky Betancourt and Jeff Francoeur added two hits apiece for the Royals (3-4).
GAME NOTEBOOK: X-rays were negative on Hochevar, who suffered a bad bruise on his left ankle. He lost for only the fourth time in 16 decisions since 2010 when starting a day game. ... The Indians entered Friday's game batting a major league-low .179. They went 8-for-11 with two doubles and a triple in the first inning. ... After going 0-for-17 in the first five games, Gordon had his second straight multi-hit game. ... Cleveland went 12-6 against Kansas City last season.