Perez's blast leads Royals to fourth straight win
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Salvador Perez hit a two-run homer with two out in the eighth as the Kansas City Royals rallied to defeat the Cleveland Indians 3-2 on Tuesday night.
The Royals have won four straight after snapping an eight-game slide and inched within one game of the Indians for the American League Central Division lead.
Perez hit the first pitch from Bryan Shaw (0-3) out to left-center with Eric Hosmer aboard. Hosmer had reached on an infield single.
Joakim Soria (3-2), the third Kansas City pitcher, picked up the victory.
Rajai Davis singled with two out in the ninth and swiped second, his 19th stolen base. Carlos Santana walked, but Soria got Jason Kipnis to pop up to third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert to end the game.
Indians starter Josh Tomlin allowed one run on seven hits over seven innings, walking none and striking out five, before being replaced by Shaw to start the eighth.
The only run Tomlin allowed was Whit Merrifield's homer in the third.
Francisco Lindor had three singles for the Indians, lifting his average to .308.
The Royals threatened in the sixth, which Alcides Escobar led off with a single and stopped at third on Salvador Perez's fly ball double that dropped in shallow center with two out. Tomlin retired Kendrys Morales on a grounder to first baseman Mike Napoli to strand the runners.
Paulo Orlando led off the Royals seventh with a single and Cuthbert's sacrifice bunt moved him to second. Jarrod Dyson grounded out to Napoli, which got Orlando to third, but he went no further. Merrifield grounded out to shortstop Francisco Lindor to end the inning.
Dillon Gee, who replaced starter Chris Young in the fifth, threw three scoreless innings, but was lifted in the eighth when Lindor singled and Napoli walked. Soria came in and struck out Jose Ramirez and retired Lonnie Chisenhall on a grounder.
Young wriggled his way into and out of trouble the first two innings. He walked Kipnis and gave up a one-out single to Lindor before coaxing Napoli to ground into an inning-ending double play.
In the second, he walked Lonnie Chisenhall, who advanced to third on Tyler Naquin's single. Naquin stole second, but Young retired Davis on a slow roller to Merrifield to end the threat.
Young's bugaboo -- the home run -- bit him in the third, which Santana led off with his 13th homer of the season. Santana hit an 81 mph slider out to right center on a full count. It was Santana's 20th career home run against the Royals in 338 at-bats.
Young, who had allowed nine home runs in 7 1/3 innings in his previous two starts, has given up a home run in all nine of his starts this season. He has permitted an American League-high 18 home runs.
Merrifield, who hit his first major league home run Monday, homered in the third to tie it at 1. Merrifield hit Tomlin's pitch out to left center.
The Indians seized a 2-1 lead in the fifth and chased Young. Davis and Young walked with one out. That was Young's fourth walk and his 87th pitch, which caused manager Ned Yost to go to the bullpen, bringing in Gee. Kipnis' single to center on Gee's second pitch got Davis home.
Young's final line was 4 1/3 innings, five hits and two runs with four strikeouts.
NOTES: 3B Juan Uribe, who suffered a testicular bruise on Sunday after being struck by a Mike Trout hard ground ball in the fourth inning, was not in the Indians' lineup for the second straight day. ... Royals closer RHP Wade Davis and eighth-inning setup RHP Kelvin Herrera had pitched in the previous three games and were unavailable Tuesday. ... The Royals claimed LHP Tyler Olson off waivers from the Yankees and assigned him to their Triple-A Omaha club. ... To make room for Olson on the 40-man roster, the Royals transferred 3B Mike Moustakas, who underwent season-ending knee surgery, to the 60-day disabled list. ... Royals LF Alex Gordon, who is on the disabled list with a fractured right wrist, has begun to hit off the tee. ... Indians RHP Corey Kluber and Royals RHP Ian Kennedy are the Wednesday probables for the series finale.