Indians end Hochevar's perfect bid, beat Royals
Apr 21, 2011 - 6:22 AMVideo
Justin Masterson (4-0) lasted six-plus innings and allowed two runs on six hits and five walks while striking out three for the Indians, who have won five of their past six.
Jeff Francoeur went 2-for-4 with three RBI -- including a two-run homer -- for Kansas City, which has now lost three of its last four.
Luke Hochevar (2-2) carried a perfect game into the sixth inning, but it was broken up by a leadoff Michael Brantley single. Hochevar allowed four runs on five hits, one walk and two balks in the inning. He pitched into the seventh and was charged with six runs on five hits and three walks while striking out four.
Alex Gordon tripled to right in the first to score Melky Cabrera and Francoeur followed with a single that scored Gordon to give the Royals an early 2-0 lead.
After Brantley led off the sixth with a single to end Hochevar's bid for a perfect game, he advanced to second on a balk and scored on a Matt LaPorta double. LaPorta moved to third on Hannahan's ground out and was brought home on the second balk by Hochevar.
"He was doing a great job tonight mixing his pitches up, mixing his speed up and hitting his spots. But we've got to give credit to our team. We just kept fighting against him and taking pitches. We really made him work. We just caught a break and ran with it," said LaPorta.
Asdrubal Cabrera singled and scored on Shin-Soo Choo's double. Travis Hafner then doubled two batters later to bring home Choo and give Cleveland a 4-2 lead.
Hannahan doubled to score Brantley and LaPorta in the seventh after they started the inning with back-to-back walks to force Hochevar from the game.
"His stuff for the first five innings was as good as I've ever seen him out there," said Kansas City manager Ned Yost. "Brantley led off the sixth with a hit and then it just unraveled."
Kansas City managed to load the bases in the bottom of the seventh with walks by Chris Getz and Melky Cabrera off of Masterson, and a Francoeur walk off of Indians reliever Vinnie Pestano. But the Royals failed to get anything out of it when Pestano struck out Mike Aviles to end the inning.
A Carlos Santana single scored Asdrubal Cabrera in the ninth to give Cleveland a five-run cushion.
Getz walked to lead off the ninth for the Royals and was brought home by a Melky Cabrera double. Francoeur followed two batters later with a bomb to left field that brought Kansas City within two.
Chris Perez entered the game with two outs to earn his 16th consecutive save dating back to August 12, 2010. He has six saves this season.
Game Notes
Francoeur extended his hit-streak to 10 games...Gordon extended his hit streak to 14 games...Cleveland now owns a two-game lead over Kansas City in the American League Central.
- CLEVELAND: 7
KANSAS CITY: 5
Final
Apr 20 11:25 PM - Jeff Francoeur two-out, two-run Home Run (3) to left scored Melky Cabrera. Mike Aviles due up.
Indians 7, Royals 5 Bot 9, 2 OutsApr 20 11:22 PM - Melky Cabrera doubled to left scored Chris Getz. Runner on second with none out and Alex Gordon due up.
Indians 7, Royals 3 Bot 9, 0 OutsApr 20 11:15 PM - Carlos Santana singled to center scored Asdrubal Cabrera. Runner on first with one out and Travis Hafner due up.
Indians 7, Royals 2 Top 9, 1 OutApr 20 11:02 PM - Grady Sizemore walked. Runners on first and second with none out and Asdrubal Cabrera due up.
Indians 6, Royals 2 Top 7, 0 OutsApr 20 10:10 PM - Travis Hafner doubled to left scored Shin-Soo Choo. Runners on second and third with two outs and Orlando Cabrera due up.
Indians 4, Royals 2 Top 6, 2 OutsApr 20 9:44 PM - Shin-Soo Choo doubled to center scored Asdrubal Cabrera Runner on third with two outs and Carlos Santana due up.
Indians 3, Royals 2 Top 6, 2 OutsApr 20 9:40 PM - Asdrubal Cabrera singled to second. Runner on first with two outs and Shin-Soo Choo due up.
Indians 2, Royals 2 Top 6, 2 OutsApr 20 9:38 PM - Matt LaPorta doubled to left scored Michael Brantley. Runner on second with none out and Jack Hannahan due up.
Indians 1, Royals 2 Top 6, 0 OutsApr 20 9:30 PM - Mike Aviles singled to center. Runners on first and second with two outs and Kila Ka`aihue due up.
Indians 0, Royals 2 Bot 1, 2 OutsApr 20 8:23 PM - Alex Gordon tripled to right scored Melky Cabrera. Runner on third with one out and Billy Butler due up.
Indians 0, Royals 1 Bot 1, 1 OutApr 20 8:20 PM - CLEVELAND: 0
KANSAS CITY: 0
Top 1, 0 Outs
Apr 20 8:11 PM
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