Royals sweep Indians, move atop AL Central

Salvador Perez #13 of the Kansas City Royals celebrates with Eric Hosmer #35 and Lorenzo Cain #6 after hitting a home run during the 5th inning of the game against the Cleveland Indians at Kauffman Stadium on June 15, 2016 in Kansas City, Missouri.

(June 15, 2016 - Source: Jamie Squire/Getty Images North America)

The Kansas City Royals beat the Cleveland Indians 9-4 to sweep their three-game series and move into a tie on top of the division.

Kansas City got off to a quick start. Leadoff hitter LF Whit Merrifield singled and advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt from SS Alcides Escobar. Back-to-back doubles by 1B Eric Hosmer and CF Lorenzo Cain put the Royals up 2-0 after the first inning.

The Indians tied the game in the top of the fifth inning. 3B Michael Martinez hit a ball hard towards Eric Hosmer and beat him and SP Ian Kennedy to first base. LF Rajaj Davis followed and homered to tie the game at two runs apiece.

Kansas City’s response came promptly. C Drew Butera led off the bottom of the frame with a double and advanced to third base on a one-out groundout by Alcides Escobar. Drew Butera ran home on a wild pitch by SP Corey Kluber to give the Royals a 3-2 lead.

The Royals weren’t done yet. Eric Hosmer safely reached first base when a slightly inaccurate throw from Michael Martinez forced 1B Mike Napoli to take his foot off the bag. Lorenzo Cain moved Eric Hosmer to third base with a single and DH Salvador Perez blasted a three-run homer to put Kansas City up 6-2.

Cleveland should have gotten out of this inning with the game tied at two. Instead, they were looking at a four-run deficit which they would not be able to overcome.

It got even worse for the Indians in the bottom of the sixth inning. 2B Christian Colon led off with a single and moved to third base on another single by Drew Butera. Corey Kluber suffered enough and was replaced with RP Dan Otero.

Whit Merrifield hit a single off Dan Otero and drove in Christian Colon for Kansas City’s seventh run. Another single from Alcides Escobar loaded the bases and led to a second pitching change for the Indians.

RP Tom Gorzelanny got Eric Hosmer to ground out but Drew Butera scored to give the Royals an 8-2 lead.

Cleveland decided to load the bases again by intentionally walking Lorenzo Cain and relieved Tom Gorzelanny in favor of RP Jeff Manship. After recording an out Jeff Manship walked 3B Cheslor Cuthbert and Whit Merrifield came home to put the Royals up 9-2.

The Indians got some sort of consolation in the seventh inning when Michael Martinez hit a two-run homer and drove in CF Tyler Naquin for the final score of the game. It was Michael Martinez’ first long ball of the season.

Corey Kluber (6-7) pitched 5 innings, allowing 9 hits, 1 walk and 8 earned runs while fanning 7. ERA and WHIP increased to 4.23 and 1.07, respectively.

Ian Kennedy (5-5) worked 6.2 innings, giving up 5 hits, 2 walks and 4 earned runs while striking out 6. He has a 4.17 ERA with a 1.24 WHIP this year.

Salvador Perez went 1-for-4 with 1 run, 1 HR and 3 RBI. He is batting .293 on the season and has 23 runs, 11 HR and 32 RBI.

The Cleveland Indians (35-30) return home to play a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox (33-33) from Friday to Sunday.

The Kansas City Royals (35-30) continue their homestand with a four-game series against the Detroit Tigers (33-32) from Thursday through Sunday.