Cleveland 6, Kansas City 4
When: 7:10 PM ET, Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Where: Progressive Field, Cleveland, Ohio
Temperature:
74°
Umpires:
Home -
Ed Hickox, 1B -
Ron Kulpa, 2B -
Lance Barrett, 3B -
Joe West
Attendance:
13796
By SportsDirect Inc.
Indians 6, Royals 4: Yan Gomes belted a three-run homer as host Cleveland staved off postseason elimination by averting a three-game series sweep.
Michael Brantley collected three hits and Jose Ramirez and David Murphy each drove in runs to help the Indians maintain a pulse, trailing Kansas City and Oakland by 3 1/2 games for the two American League wild-card slots. Zach McAllister (4-7) pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief for Cleveland, which must win its final three and needs both the Royals and Athletics to drop their final four games.
Billy Butler went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and Alcides Escobar added three hits and scored a run for Kansas City, which fell two games behind first-place Detroit in the AL Central with four to play. Brandon Finnegan (0-1) allowed one run on two hits in one inning for the Royals, who stayed three games ahead of Seattle and has a magic number of two to clinch their first playoff berth since 1985.
The Indians jumped on Jason Vargas in the first when Gomes slammed a two-out changeup over the wall in center for a 3-0 edge, but Kansas City rallied on an RBI double by Butler in the fourth before going ahead with three runs in the fifth against Trevor Bauer on Eric Hosmer's RBI single and Butler's two-run double off the wall in left-center.
Cleveland answered in the bottom of the inning when Ramirez greeted reliever Finnegan with a double to drive home Michael Bourn and scored the go-ahead run on Carlos Santana's groundout before Murphy's sacrifice fly in the sixth put the Indians on top 6-4. The Indians received 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, with Cody Allen getting the final three outs for his 23rd save.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Vargas was charged with four runs on four hits and three walks in four-plus innings while Bauer lasted 4 1/3 innings, giving up four runs on eight hits. ... Brantley extended his hitting streak to 15 games - matching his season high from May - and pushed his hit total to 199, second in baseball to Houston's Jose Altuve. ... Kansas City opens a four-game road trip at the Chicago White Sox while the Indians have a day off before closing the season at home with three games against Tampa Bay.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
| Kansas City |
|
Cleveland |
|
Jason Vargas
|
Player |
Trevor Bauer
|
|
No Decision |
W/L |
No Decision |
|
4.0 |
IP |
4.1 |
|
1 |
Strikeouts |
2 |
|
4 |
Hits |
8 |
|
9.00 |
ERA |
8.31 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
| Kansas City
|
10 |
0 |
12 |
.278 |
22 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
| Cleveland
|
7 |
1 |
13 |
.241 |
15 |
3 |
6 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
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