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Indians rough up Royals to avoid sweep

Jul 28, 2014 - 2:05 AM Kansas City, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Carlos Santana collected three of his team's 15 hits, including two home runs, and drove in four as Cleveland clobbered Kansas City, 10-3, in the finale of a four-game set.

"He's in one of those periods right now ... and he's hitting good pitching," Indians manager Terry Francona said.

Yan Gomes hit a solo shot among his three hits and drove in two for the Indians, who avoided a sweep and put a four-game losing skid to rest.

Ryan Raburn contributed a homer as well, with Nick Swisher, Michael Brantley and Asdrubal Cabrera driving in a run apiece. Danny Salazar (3-4) allowed seven hits and three runs while striking out seven over seven effective innings.

Billy Butler went 3-for-4 with an RBI for the Royals, whose five-game win streak came to a crashing halt. Alex Gordon and Jarrod Dyson each knocked in a run for the hosts.

Bruce Chen (2-3) was charged with six runs on eight hits over five-plus frames in defeat.

Cleveland picked up a run in the fourth on a Gomes RBI single, then went ahead in the fifth.

With runners on the corners and one out, Cabrera singled home a run, Brantley's sac fly accounted for the go-ahead score, then Santana capped the burst with a two-run homer to right.

Raburn turned on a Chen offering to start the sixth and the Tribe led 6-2.

Butler doubled home Gordon in the home sixth, but Cleveland got that run back in the seventh when Brantley reached with a leadoff single and eventually scored on Swisher's RBI base hit.

The Indians piled on three more to cap the rout in the ninth, as Brantley doubled off Aaron Crow and scored when Santana followed with a two-run blast, then Gomes went deep in the next at-bat.

"He's on fire and he's hitting the ball well," Chen said of Santana.

Kansas City backed Chen with early runs in the second and third.

In the former, Butler singled with two down, moved to third on a Brett Hayes hit and scored on a Dyson single. In the latter, Norichika Aoki stroked a leadoff double, moved up on a groundout and scored on Gordon's fly to left.

Game Notes

Santana, who also hit a pair of homers on Friday, finished the series going 9- for-14 with five homers, eight RBI and six runs scored ... Cleveland hit double digits for the first time since July 1, a 10-3 win against the Dodgers ... Indians outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall missed his second straight game due to stomach issues ... The Tribe next take the field at home on Tuesday against Seattle, while the Royals will also have a day off before hosting Minnesota.