Indians 13, Royals 7
Shelley Duncan’s three-run homer was the first of four Cleveland round-trippers in a lopsided win at Kansas City, capping a three-game weekend sweep.
The Royals used an RBI double by Alcides Escobar and a two-run double from Chris Getz to take a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second, but the Indians answered with a six-run third against Luis Mendoza (0-2). Shin-Soo Choo got the two-out rally started with a two-run double, and after Kansas City first baseman Eric Hosmer dropped a foul ball that would have ended the inning, Duncan drove a 1-1 pitch deep to left. Jack Hannahan followed with a run-scoring single in his second at-bat of the frame.
Travis Hafner added a fifth-inning solo shot for Cleveland, starting a four-run frame that broke the game open. Casey Kotchman and Jason Kipnis delivered back-to-back homers in the eighth to make it 13-5 before the Royals managed a pair of runs in their final at-bat.
Ubaldo Jimenez (1-0) got the win despite giving up four runs on nine hits in five innings. He struck out five and walked three. Mendoza allowed nine runs, five of them earned, while yielding nine hits and four walks in four-plus innings for Kansas City.
Kotchman and Michael Brantley each had three of the Indians’ 15 hits.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Jimenez was coming off of a five-game suspension for intentionally throwing at Colorado’s Troy Tulowitzki during a spring training game ... Kansas City pitchers handed out seven walks, with Duncan drawing three ... The Royals are 0-3 at home after a 3-3 start on the road.