Francisco Lindor did it all for the Cleveland Indians.
Advertisement
The Indians have notched wins in the first three games of a four-game series against Kansas City, which entered the Central showdown leading Cleveland by 2½ games.
The switch-hitting shortstop’s highlight-reel moments have become a daily occurrence for his teammates.
“It’s every night”, winning pitcher Josh Tomlin said. “He’s a special player, that’s for sure”. Tonight, he surprised us again. “Esky was very skinny, but you knew he could play and that he would fill out”.
The Royals were outscored 20-2 in the final three games.
Playing in a shift near second base, Lindor made a backhand stop of Kendrys Morales’ hard-hit grounder and flipped to third baseman Jose Ramirez, who was playing behind second. Ramirez threw to first for the out.
Napoli’s home run barely got out of the ballpark, a hooking shot that off the bat looked more like a fly-out. Strasburg walked Zack Cozart to start the bottom of the inning, gave up Votto’s homer, and grabbed his right calf on a pitch to Brandon Phillips.
SS Francisco Lindor had two doubles and a home run Saturday. The home run was off left-hander Scott Alexander.
“I thought [Kluber] pitched in both lefties and righties”, said Indians manager Terry Francona. “He does so many things well”.
Three ineffective starts while the Indians pitchers were shutting down the Kansas City Royals offense was rather painful to watch.
In the seventh, rookie outfielder Tyler Paquin hit the first home run of his career, a solo homer to the opposite field that gave the Indians a 5-1 edge and the kind of breathing room they hadn’t been able to enjoy the previous two nights. In the fourth, Mike Napoli led off with a fly ball a mile high that first appeared to be a routine out, but was carried by the wind over the wall, for Napoli’s 14th home run of the year.
Tomlin (8-1) bounced back from his first loss of the season and allowed one run in 6 1/3 innings. Tomlin, who lost to Texas on Monday, was pulled after Rey Fuentes’ RBI single.
“They were swinging the bats pretty well the whole game, stuff just wasn’t falling”, he said.
“Overall, the guys have done a great job and I’m blessed to be a part of it”. “We had a good day today”.
Advertisement
While the Royals weren’t happy with the way the series transpired, they were glad catcher Salvador Perez returned to action. Manship ended the inning by retiring Alcides Escobar on a groundout and Whit Merrifield on a line drive to Lindor at short.Kennedy pitched six innings, giving up five runs and eight hits with six strikeouts and one walk. He has been on the 15-day disabled list since May 11.
