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Royals seek fourth straight win and seris sweep vs. Indians

May 24, 2007 - 1:23 PM Cleveland (27-17) at Kansas City (19-28) ,8:10 pm EDT

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) - Jorge De La Rosa hopes to give the Kansas City Royals something they haven't had all season.

De La Rosa and the Royals seek their season-high fourth straight victory when facing the Cleveland Indians on Thursday.

Kansas City, which homered four times in an 11-7 victory over Cleveland on Wednesday, has won three straight and is looking for its first series sweep of the year. The Royals (19-28) won for the eighth time in 10 games no longer possess the American League's worst record. That dubious honor goes to Texas (18-29) and Tampa Bay (18-27).

De La Rosa (4-3, 3.59 ERA) takes the hill looking for his fifth win of the season. He is coming off a two run, six-hit effort on the road vs. the Colorado Rockies last Friday in which he failed to factor into the decision. In his victories this season, the lefthander has been outstanding, yielding only a run each time. He's won thrice by a 3-1 count then was victorious in an 11-1 laugher against the Chicago White Sox on May 13.

It may not matter who starts for the Royals during this winning run. Kansas City relievers have the team's last four victories and six of the last seven.

The loss on Tuesday dropped Cleveland one-half game behind the Tigers for the lead in the American League Central. The Indians, who are 11-13 on the road, send Jeremy Sowers (0-4, 7.13 ERA) to the mound looking for his first win in 2007.

Sowers was tagged for seven runs, eight hits and two walks in a 10-5 loss to the Cincinnati Reds last Saturday. Sowers is 0-3 this month and hasn't won a game since September 5, 2006.

Cleveland is in danger of losing three in a row for the third time in 2007.