Kansas City 3, Cleveland 0
When: 2:10 PM ET, Sunday, September 27, 2015
Where: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
Temperature:
77°
Umpires:
Home -
Ed Hickox, 1B -
Paul Nauert, 2B -
Dana DeMuth, 3B -
Mike Estabrook
Attendance:
36339
By The Sports Xchange
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Chris Young was pitching with a heavy heart.
Young learned his father, Charles, died Saturday night in Dallas, but wanted to take the mound Sunday.
Young threw five no-hit innings and Lorenzo Cain had three hits as the Kansas City Royals beat the Cleveland Indians 3-0 Sunday.
The Royals finished with a 51-30 regular season home record. They share the best record in the American League, 90-65, with the Toronto Blue Jays for postseason home field advantage.
Young, who had not started since July 28 and was on a limited pitch count, walked only one in his five innings. He threw 68 pitches, 41 for strikes.
"I felt him next to me with every pitch," Young said in a statement read by Royals spokesman Mike Swanson. "I'm grateful for the support of my teammates, coaches and the entire Royals' organization during this difficult time.
"Thank you for your thoughts and prayers."
After leaving the game, Young immediately flew to Dallas to be with his family.
"We're all a family in here and stuff like that happens throughout the year," Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer said. "You don't expect him to go out and pitch, but what he did for us today shows the type of person he is.
"We couldn't appreciate his efforts enough. To throw the ball like he today, you can't even describe a performance like that. You don't know how he's able to even go out there and do what he did, but it just describes the type of person and type of teammate he is."
Young's pitch limit was 70.
"His high water mark in the last three weeks was 51," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "In the fourth inning, he came in and we asked him how he was doing. He said I've got one more good inning left in me and went out boom-boom-boom and he was gone."
Danny Duffy replaced Young and struck out two in a perfect sixth.
The Indians' got their first hit in the seventh when shortstop Francisco Lindor led off with a bunt single on Ryan Madson's first pitch.
"I was trying to get on base and make something happen," Lindor said. "Michael Brantley was coming to home plate, the tying run. I mean that's big, to get the tying run to the plate."
Kelvin Herrera worked a spotless eight, while Wade Davis worked the ninth for his 14th save. Davis did give up a double to second baseman Jason Kipnis, the only other Indians' hit.
Center fielder Cain led off the Royals' fourth with a single and scored on first baseman Eric Hosmer's double. Hosmer moved to third on catcher Salvador Perez's single and scored when third baseman Mike Moustakas grounded out.
Left fielder Jarrod Dyson singled in the seventh, moved to second on shortstop Alcides Escobar's ground out and scored on left fielder Alex Gordon's single to right.
Indians right-hander Danny Salazar (13-10) took the loss, surrendering two runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.
"He came out with real good intensity," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "I just don't think he pitched in enough. As good as he was throwing, because he was kind of living out over the plate they didn't really have to respect his off-speed as much and, like Hosmer went out and hit the ball the other way, Cain hit a ball the other way.
"I think if he could have gotten the ball in a little more, just to make them aware, because his stuff was really good. He ended up giving up two, but that was where I think he could have done a little bit better."
NOTES: DH Kendrys Morales was not in the Royals' lineup after being hit in the right ankle by a pitch Saturday. X-rays were negative. ... Indians LF Michael Brantley started after missing the previous four games with a right shoulder injury. ... The Indians have lost 10 of 15 Monday games. ... RHP Corey Kluber will start Monday against the Twins as the Indians open a seven-game homestand to close out the regular season. RHP Phil Hughes will start for Minnesota. ... Royals RHP Yordano Ventura and Cubs RHP Kyle Hendricks are the probables for a Monday game at Wrigley Field. This is a makeup game from a May 30 rainout.
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
| Cleveland
|
2 |
0 |
3 |
.071 |
7 |
6 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| Kansas City
|
9 |
0 |
10 |
.281 |
10 |
6 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
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