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Guthrie strong as Royals blank Indians

Apr 28, 2013 - 10:27 PM Kansas City, MO (Sports Network) - Jeremy Guthrie spun 6 2/3 shutout innings en route to matching a Royals' franchise record in Kansas City's 9-0 rout of the Cleveland Indians in the first game of a doubleheader from Kauffman Stadium.

Guthrie (3-0) scattered six hits and three walks while striking out five to move to 8-0 over his last 16 assignments dating back to Aug. 3 of last season, tying the longest unbeaten stretch by a starting pitcher in Royals' history. Paul Splittorff set the mark between Aug. 13, 1977 to Apr. 22, 1978.

"Ultimately [the record] means a lot, because hopefully the guys behind me when they go out are confident they have a chance to win the game," Guthrie said. "That's the kind of confidence I want to go into each start with. Good stuff or not, I want to give us a chance to win."

The right-hander received plenty of offensive support in accomplishing the feat. Alcides Escobar had a solo home run with two RBI and Alex Gordon belted a two-run homer for Kansas City, with Jarrod Dyson also knocking in a pair of runs as part of a 2-for-4 day at the plate.

Asdrubal Cabrera collected three of Cleveland's eight hits. Justin Masterson (4-2) was saddled with the loss after permitting a season-high seven runs in 6 1/3 innings, though he did register nine strikeouts.

The Tribe have now dropped three in a row and eight of their last 11 games.

Guthrie was nearly touched for a run after Carlos Santana launched a deep fly ball that bounced off the top of the center-field fence with one out in the second inning, with the Cleveland catcher winding up with a double following a video review. Guthrie kept him stationed there, however, and got into little trouble until exiting after allowing a pair of singles in the seventh.

The Royals had built a healthy lead by that point. Back-to-back RBI doubles from Jeff Francoeur and Dyson in the bottom of the second staked Kansas City to a 2-0 edge, and Dyson drove in another run in the fourth to extend the margin.

Masterson retired the first two hitters in the fourth before walking Mike Moustakas, with Francoeur keeping the inning alive with a single before Dyson looped a single to center to plate Moustakas.

"Unfortunately the two-out walks hurt us in the sense of not being able to finish when we were there," said Masterson. "It's one of those (games) where, I think, you're going to have something like this where it's not going to always work out."

Escobar slugged his third homer of the season in the fifth to put the Royals up by a 4-0 count, and Kansas City later broke the game open with a three-run seventh.

Singles by Chris Getz and Gordon began the Royals' half of the frame, with Getz crossing the plate on Escobar's fielder's choice grounder. Masterson's day was done after he walked Billy Butler and gave up an RBI single to Eric Hosmer, and reliever Matt Albers forced in Kansas City's seventh run after hitting Salvador Perez to load the bases and subsequently walking Moustakas.

Gordon put the finishing touches on the win by following a walk to Getz with a blast into the center-field seats off Scott Barnes.

Game Notes

The game was part of the first day-night doubleheader ever held at Kauffman Stadium, which opened in 1973 ... Guthrie has posted a 2.44 earned run average over his unbeaten streak ... Gordon homered for the third time in five games and is batting .455 (10-for-22) over that span after going 2-for-4 in the opener ... Barnes was recalled from Triple-A Columbus prior to the game with the Indians allotted an extra pitcher for the twinbill ... Cleveland placed catcher Lou Marson on the 15-day disabled list on Sunday due to right shoulder inflammation, with catcher Yan Gomes promoted from Columbus.