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Moustakas, Gordon help Royals top Indians

May 30, 2012 - 11:47 PM Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - Mike Moustakas and Alex Gordon both had an RBI double on Wednesday and the Royals defeated the Indians, 6-3, in the finale of a three-game series.

Bruce Chen (4-5) gave up three runs on seven hits over five innings to win for the fourth time in his last five starts. Jonathan Broxton allowed Cleveland to load the bases with one out in the ninth inning before inducing Jose Lopez into a game-ending double play.

"Today was a battle. I felt like they put up some good swings [but the] defense did a really good job. They made some good plays," said Chen. "And we have one of the best bullpens in the league. It was a total team effort."

Johnny Giavotella went 2-for-4 with a double and a go-ahead RBI single in the fourth inning for Kansas City, which has won four of its last five games, including two in a row to end this series.

The Indians, losers of five of their last six, scored all of their runs in the second inning, getting RBIs from Casey Kotchman, Luke Carlin and Shin-Soo Choo. Jeanmar Gomez (3-4) allowed five runs on 10 hits over a five-inning start.

In addition to the ninth, the Indians also left the bases loaded in the third inning when Kotchman went down swinging. In their last at bat, Choo and Asdrubal Cabrera walked around Jason Kipnis' single but Lopez grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.

"We scored three runs. We had some other opportunities but we couldn't do anything," said Indians manager Manny Acta.

Earlier, Shelley Duncan began the second inning with a single and Michael Brantley followed with a base hit, setting the stage for a three-run frame. Duncan scored on Kotchman's bloop single to right and Brantley crossed the plate on Carlin's fielder's choice groundout. Choo's RBI single to center made it 3-0.

The Royals left the bases loaded in the second, but pushed a pair of two-out runs across in both the third and fourth innings to grab the lead.

In the third, Giavotella doubled with one down, advanced on a groundout and scored on Moustakas' two-bagger to left center. Jeff Francoeur's subsequent single plated Moustakas.

An inning later Alcides Escobar reached with a two-out hit, stole second and scored on Gordon's double off the base of the wall in center field. Giavotella then singled up the middle to put the Royals up 4-3.

They added insurance in the form of Brayan Pena's RBI single in the fifth and Billy Butler's bases-loaded groundout in the eighth.

Game Notes

The Royals finished May with a 15-13 record, marking their first 15-win May since 1996 (15-12). The last time the Royals had a winning May was 2000 (14-12)... The Indians placed designated hitter Travis Hafner on the 15-day disabled list because of a right knee injury that will require surgery. Hafner will undergo a procedure on Thursday to have damaged meniscus repaired and will be sidelined 4-to-6 weeks. Cleveland recalled pitcher Scott Barnes from Triple-A Columbus to fill the vacant roster spot. He pitched one scoreless inning on Wednesday.