Duffy only lasted 2 1/3 innings and allowed four runs Wednesday night, sending the Cleveland Indians to a 5-1 win over Kansas City.
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The Rangers wasted no time in getting to Keuchel (17-8), scoring six runs in the first inning, with left fielder Mike Napoli hitting a three-run homer and second baseman Rougned Odor adding a two-run shot.
Infante also had a sacrifice and almost matched the offensive output of teammate Mike Moustakas, who set a team record with nine RBI’s Saturday against Baltimore.
Lindor downplayed his night, saying, “It felt great”.
“Ventura was out there just grinding his tail off, really taking it upon himself to stop this streak”, Yost said.
Kansas City was a season-high 31 games over.500 (82-51) on September 3 before its recent rough stretch. Brett Lawrie doubled, Danny Valencia singled, and Butler hit his 13th homer.
“It shocked the (heck) out of me”, he said. “Our job is to put the four best starters out to perform in the playoffs”.
PITTSBURGH By winning three of four games in Pittsburgh, the Chicago Cubs made a bold move as they try to catch the Pirates for the top NL wild card.
“My level of concern is the way we’ve played the last two weeks”, Royals manager Ned Yost said. Similarly, Kluber was pulled after 61 pitches in his first start since August 29.
Kansas City only managed five hits off Indians right-hander Danny Salazar (12-8) and relievers Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen. “When we got it where we needed to we were OK, but when we didn’t, he killed us”.
According to terms of major-league baseballs collective bargaining agreement, players must have three full seasons of service to gain access to arbitration and six full seasons to become a free agent.
“Rios is hot as a firecracker, too”, Yost said. “If you can’t duplicate mechanics, you can’t throw strikes, and he’s just not staying in position with his arm to make the right pitches”. “We’re always in a good position with him up there”.
Kluber’s return was surprisingly short.
Kluber tried to persuade Francona to let him pitch another inning, but didnt force the issue.
In the second inning, the Indians momentarily fought back from a 3-0 deficit. Brantley popped out to third baseman Moustakas. Zobrist fielded it and came up firing, trying to gun down Jose Ramirez at home, but Ben’s throw tailed off into foul territory.
Perez was struck on the right shoulder by a wicked foul tip off Urshela’s bat in the fourth inning.
Kansas City lost for the eighth time in 11 games. He’s been slowed by an assortment of nagging injuries, and those coupled with a.192 career average against Kluber kept Cain on the bench. Miguel Cabrera is singing a sour tune as he is mired in an 0-for-20 slump, but is 3-for-6 with a homer and four RBIs in his career versus Friday starter Johnny Cueto. He’ll start the series opener in Detroit.
Edwin Encarnacion, Josh Donaldson and Cliff Pennington all smashed long balls as the Tronto Blue Jays increased their lead in the AL East to 3 1/2 games over the New York Yankees with a comfortable 5-0 win over the Atlanta Braves. Toronto won two of three games for their first series win over the Braves since 2008.
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“I tried to talk [Francona] into letting me go back out, but I also understand his point of view of not wanting me to push it to where it’s going to make things worse”.
