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Royals-Indians Preview

Aug 29, 2010 - 4:06 AM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Kansas City (54-74) at Cleveland (52-76), 1:05 p.m. EDT

The Cleveland Indians have broken out of their slump in part by taking advantage of the Kansas City Royals' struggles on the road. Indians starter Fausto Carmona hopes the Royals will also prove the key to ending his losing streak.

Carmona will try to avoid dropping a career-worst fifth consecutive start and help his team complete a home sweep of the Royals on Sunday.

The Indians (53-76) entered the weekend losers of 13 of 17, but now have a chance to post their fourth consecutive win in the finale of this three-game set. They can also complete their first sweep of the Royals since Aug. 19-21, 2008. Should they pull it off, they'll move into a fourth-place tie with Kansas City in the AL Central.

Asdrubal Cabrera homered to lead of the 10th inning Saturday and lift Cleveland to a 4-3 victory.

"It felt really good because I can't remember ever hitting a home run to win a game," said Cabrera, who was sidelined two months earlier this season with a broken left arm. "I still am not 100 percent, maybe 90."

Achieving the sweep might be easier said than done with the struggling Carmona (11-12, 4.20 ERA) heading to the mound.

The right-hander has posted a 6.48 ERA while losing his last four starts. He gave up four runs over 6 2-3 innings of Tuesday's 5-0 home loss to Oakland. He also dropped four straight starts from May 22-June 7, but has never lost five consecutive outings.

Carmona was tagged for seven runs and nine hits over five innings Aug. 18 in Kansas City but threw five innings during a 4-0 victory over the Royals on May 12, also on the road

This time, he'll face a Kansas City team that's 1-4 heading into the finale of its six-game road trip and is 4-17 away from home since July 8.

Carmona is 3-1 with a 3.18 ERA in four career home starts against the Royals (54-75).

He'll square off again with Bruce Chen (8-7, 4.88), who won the Aug. 18 game despite allowing a career high-tying 11 hits.

The left-hander followed that 9-7 win by giving up five runs, five hits and five walks over 4 1-3 innings of Monday's 12-3 loss in Detroit. He's 1-3 with a 6.10 ERA in his last four road starts.

"I didn't pitch very well, and it cost us the game," he said. "I nibbled too much instead of attacking the strike zone."

Chen is 1-2 with a 7.98 ERA in three career starts versus the Indians.

The Royals will try to back him up by recording double-digit hits for the fourth straight game overall and the seventh time in their last eight matchups with the Indians. Kansas City has batted .328 in those eight games.