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Royals use homers to down Indians

Jun 11, 2014 - 5:27 AM Kansas City, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas each slammed two-run home runs to help power the Kansas City Royals to a 9-5 victory over the Cleveland Indians in the opener of a brief two-game set at Kauffman Stadium.

Alex Gordon connected on a solo shot and Billy Butler drove in two runs for the Royals, who have won six of eight and are back at the .500 mark with the win.

Kansas City starter Jason Vargas (6-2) spun an impressive 7 2/3 innings, allowing just three runs on six hits while fanning five.

"Vargas just throws strikes, he knows his game plan and lets the defense make plays," said Hosmer.

Corey Kluber (6-4) yielded six runs -- three earned -- on six hits and two walks in five innings to absorb his first loss since April 29.

"I wasn't at my best," said Kluber. "I think I did a decent enough job of making some good pitches when I needed to. Unfortunately there were a couple of times when soft hits fell in."

After a historic night, Lonnie Chisenhall went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Jason Kipnis drove in a pair of runs for the Indians, who were winners of nine of their last 10 coming into Tuesday's game.

Moustakas drew a one-out walk and Alcides Escobar singled in the third. Jarrod Dyson hit a routine double play ball to second that would have ended the inning but shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera couldn't handle the flip and the error loaded the bases. Omar Infante dropped a single into shallow center to make it 1-0.

A broken bat groundout to first from Hosmer put Kansas City up 2-0. Butler then delivered a two-out, two-run base hit to right to increase the cushion to four.

In the fifth, Hosmer connected on a two-run homer just over the left-center field wall. Infante worked a two-out walk to keep the inning alive before Hosmer cranked his third of the season.

After recording the first two outs in the eighth, Vargas hit Michael Brantley and allowed a two-run double from Kipnis that ended his outing. Santana welcomed reliever Tim Collins with a base hit to plate Kipnis and cut the deficit to three.

Gordon connected on a solo shot and Moustakas stroked a two-run home run in the eighth to increase the Royals advantage to 9-3.

The Indians got two runs back in the ninth off Aaron Crow when David Murphy ripped an RBI double to right and Cabrera hit a sac fly to left. Crow, who entered for Collins with two gone in the eighth, struck out Brantley to pick up his first save of the season.

Game Notes

Chisenhall will give his bat from Monday to The Baseball Hall of Fame after connecting for three homers and nine RBI in a win over Texas ... It was Vargas' 11th quality start this season ... Kluber has allowed seven home runs in 13 starts this season ... Chisenhall extended his hit streak to eight games ... The Indians were 3-for-7 with runners in scoring position, while the Royals finished 3-for-8 with RISP.