Indians 8, Royals 7
Asdrubal Cabrera ended a lengthy homer drought with a dramatic three-run blast in the eighth inning as the Cleveland Indians pulled out an 8-7 victory over the visiting Kansas City Royals on Saturday.
Cabrera's RBI double in the seventh made it 7-5 before he golfed a shot to right field an inning later for his second home run in the last 22 games.
Cabrera finished with three hits for the Indians, who remained 6 1/2 games behind Detroit atop the American League Central. The Tigers defeated Minnesota 6-4 on Saturday.
Joe Smith (3-3) retired one hitter in the eighth to earn his first victory since May 23. Chris Perez worked the ninth for his 29th save and second in as many nights.
Louis Coleman (1-4) served up Cabrera's home run.
Jim Thome went deep in the sixth for his first home run since returning to the Indians in a trade with Minnesota earlier this week. The solo shot came on his 41st birthday.
Alex Gordon had three hits, including a three-run homer, as the Royals fell for the 16th time in the past 22 games.