Guardians 2 - 3 Royals
Final
  for this game

Royals walk away with narrow win over Indians

Apr 28, 2013 - 3:41 AM Kansas City, MO (Sports Network) - Eric Hosmer walked with the bases loaded in the seventh to force in the eventual game-winning run, as the Kansas City Royals held off the Cleveland Indians, 3-2.

Salvador Perez hit a two-run homer for the Royals, who started a 10-game homestand on Saturday.

Kansas City starter Ervin Santana (3-1) tossed seven scoreless innings to pick up the win. The right-hander gave up six hits while striking out five.

Scott Kazmir (0-1) allowed two runs on five hits over five innings for the Indians, who have lost two straight since a three-game winning streak. He had four strikeouts to surpass 1,000 for his career.

"I'd been sitting on that for a long time, it feels like, so it's not as special as if there would have been a time that I kept going through and not had this little hiccup," Kazmir said.

This four-game series was slated to get underway on Friday, but rain caused a postponement. The game will be made up on Sunday as part of a split doubleheader.

Perez's first homer of the year gave the Royals a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Jeff Francoeur led off with a walk and scored on Perez's blast to right.

Cleveland left the bases loaded in the third. Drew Stubbs, Jason Kipnis and Asdrubal Cabrera singled to fill the bags with one out. Nick Swisher, though, grounded into a double play.

Kansas City tacked on another run in the seventh. Alex Gordon singled and Alcides Escobar and Billy Butler walked to load the bases with two outs. Rich Hill came in from the bullpen and walked Hosmer to force in a run, making it 3-0. Lorenzo Cain grounded out to end the inning.

The Indians, who stranded runners on the corners in the eighth, scored a pair of runs off Greg Holland in the ninth. Mark Reynolds singled and Lonnie Chisenhall reached first on Hosmer's error. Michael Brantley knocked in both runners with a triple to right-center field. Kipnis struck out swinging to end the game.

"It was a little closer than I wanted, but that happens sometimes. It just goes to show you how big a three-run lead is," Holland said.

Game Notes

The Royals went 10-8 versus the Indians last season ... Holland picked up his sixth save of the season ... Santana improved to 3-8 lifetime versus the Indians in 15 starts ... Kazmir fell to 3-3 in his career versus the Royals in 11 starts.






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