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Jimenez leads Indians into opener with Royals

Aug 26, 2011 - 3:01 PM

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(Sports Network) - Ubaldo Jimenez tries to bounce back from an awful outing his last time out when the Cleveland Indians open a three-game series with the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field.

Jimenez absorbed his first loss since being acquired by the Tribe on Sunday in Detroit, as the Tigers battered him for eight runs and nine hits in just 3 1/3 innings. He is now 1-1 with a 7.29 earned run average since being traded from Colorado at the non-waiver trade deadline.

Jimenez has never faced the Royals.

The Indians could have a familiar face in their lineup this evening, as the team acquired slugger Jim Thome from the Minnesota Twins on Thursday for a player to be named later. Thome, of course, spent the first 12 years of his career with the Indians, swatting a team-record 334 of his 601 home runs for them.

"Jim Thome is a Hall of Fame-caliber player and person," Indians general manager Chris Antonetti said in a press release. "He has meant so much to this organization -- both on and off the field -- and it is an honor to bring him back to finish out the season in an Indians uniform where he created so many great memories."

Cleveland comes into tonight's tilt reeling a bit after losing three of four to the Seattle Mariners. The Tribe fell 9-2 on Wednesday and has now lost six of its last seven and has fallen 6 1/2 games off the pace in the American League Central.

The Royals, meanwhile, have won two of their last three, but are a whopping 17 1/2 games behind the front-running Tigers in the division.

On Thursday, Billy Butler finished 4-for-5 with two RBI and a pair of doubles to lead Kansas City to a 9-6 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in the finale of a three-game series at Rogers Centre.

Melky Cabrera collected three of his team's 16 hits, including a solo home run. Rookie Mike Moustakas added an RBI single and a run-scoring double for the Royals in the win.

Jeff Francis (5-14) gave up two runs on six hits over six-plus innings to earn the win. He fanned five and walked three to post his first win since July 29. Thursday marked the first time Francis, a Vancouver native, pitched in the majors in his home country.

"He really did a nice job keeping them off-balance," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "He really worked down good tonight, changed speeds really well."

Kansas City will hand the ball to righty Felipe Paulino, who is 2-5 with a 3.91 ERA. Paulino beat the Boston Red Sox his last time out, holding them to four runs and eight hits in six innings.

Paulino tossed six scoreless innings against the Tribe earlier in the season, but did not get a decision in his only other appearance against them.

Cleveland is 8-4 versus the Royals this season.






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