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Royals rally with 5-run ninth to beat Indians

May 20, 2010 - 3:51 AM CLEVELAND(AP) -- Kerry Wood gave up the lead, five runs - and his glove.

Yuniesky Betancourt hit a three-run double off Cleveland's closer in Kansas City's five-run ninth inning as the Royals rallied to beat the Cleveland Indians 8-4 on Wednesday night.

Wood (0-2) tossed his glove into the stands as he walked off the field to a chorus of boos, after allowing four hits and five runs while getting only one out in 30 pitches.

"That was irrelevant," Wood said of his underhanded toss, which was caught by a fan six rows behind the dugout.

"I've got to get outs," Wood said.

Wood opened the season on the disabled list with a strained muscle in his upper back and was activated May 7. In the second year of a $20.5 million contract he signed as a free agent in December 2008, the right-hander has an 18.90 ERA in 3 1-3 innings over five games.

Indians manager Manny Acta has had better days. In the span of a few hours, he had starting shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera undergo surgery on a broken left arm, put Gold Glove centerfielder Grady Sizemore on the disabled list with a deep bruise in his left knee, then endured Wood's implosion.

"It was meant to happen," Acta said of the stunning loss. "The first hit (in the rally) landed just inside the line, then we couldn't make a play. Then Kerry fell behind to too many hitters."

Mike Aviles opened the ninth with a triple down the right-field line.

"Against a guy like Wood, you know he's going to come after you," Aviles said. "He's going to throw strikes. Fortunately I got a ball up enough to where it stayed in play. When I saw the ball rattle around, I knew I could get the extra base."

David DeJesus reached on an infield single when Wood dove to catch his slow roller, but dropped it.

Billy Butler then tied the score with an RBI double off Cleveland's closer, who was seeking his first save since Sept. 25. Mitch Maier later drew a bases-loaded walk to put Kansas City ahead, and Betancourt followed with his drive over the head of center fielder Trevor Crowe.

"Wow," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "What more can you say?

"Those kids don't quit. Right up until the end they kept battling. That ninth inning was as good as it gets."

Bruce Chen (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings for his first win since Aug. 6.

Neither starting pitcher managed to break long losing streaks.

The Royals' Gil Meche remained winless in 10 starts since beating the Chicago White Sox on Aug. 18. The right-hander allowed five hits and two earned runs in five-plus innings.

Justin Masterson gave up five hits and two runs over five innings for Cleveland. The right-hander walked four, struck out three, and remained winless since beating the Los Angeles Angels on Aug. 20. He is 0-10 in his last 15 starts.

Cleveland took a 1-0 lead with an unearned run in the second on a throwing error by second baseman Aviles while trying to turn a double play.

Aviles made up for his mistake with an RBI single in the third, and the Royals took the lead when DeJesus drove in a run with a groundout.

Cleveland tied it in the fifth when Lou Marson singled, stole second and scored on a single by Crowe. But consecutive doubles by Alberto Callaspo and Maier off reliever Aaron Laffey to open the sixth put Kansas City ahead 3-2.

The Indians regained the lead in the seventh when Travis Hafner poked a pitch from Dusty Hughes between shortstop and third base with one out to score Shin-Soo Choo. He'd been hit by a pitch from Brad Thompson and stole second before Hafner delivered.

NOTES: Aviles has hit .410 (15 for 39) over his last nine games. ... Branyan went 0 for 3 with two walks. He is in a 1-for-18 slide since going 5 for 9 with three homers in Kansas City last week. ... Kansas City's Jason Kendall and Cleveland's Marson became the first catchers on both teams to get a stolen base in the same game since San Diego's Nick Hundley and Russell Martin of the Los Angeles Dodgers did it May 2, 2009. ... The U.S. and Germany women's soccer teams, in town for a match Saturday, were in attendance. ... ... LHP Mike Gosling has retired from the Indians' Triple-A team at Columbus. The 29-year-old pitched for Cleveland, Cincinnati and Arizona and earned a win in his last career outing Tuesday night for the Clippers.