Guardians 1 - 4 Royals
Final
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Royals target quick sweep of visiting Indians

Jun 11, 2014 - 2:42 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - Yordano Ventura tries to get the Kansas City Royals over .500 for the first time in three weeks on Wednesday when they close out a brief two-game set with the Cleveland Indians at Kauffman Stadium.

Kansas City continued to impress in Tuesday's opener, as Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas each slammed two-run home runs to help power the Royals to a 9-5 victory. Alex Gordon connected on a solo shot and Billy Butler drove in two runs for Kansas City, which has won six of eight.

"It's a good feeling," Moustakas said, "but it's not where we want to be."

Kansas City starter Jason Vargas (6-2) spun an impressive 7 2/3 innings, allowing just three runs on six hits while fanning five.

"Vargas just throws strikes, he knows his game plan and lets the defense make plays," said Hosmer.

Corey Kluber (6-4) yielded six runs -- three earned -- on six hits and two walks in five innings to absorb his first loss since April 29.

"I wasn't at my best," said Kluber. "I think I did a decent enough job of making some good pitches when I needed to. Unfortunately there were a couple of times when soft hits fell in."

After a historic night, Lonnie Chisenhall went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Jason Kipnis drove in a pair of runs for the Indians, who lost for only the second time in 11 tries.

Ventura now will try to get the Royals past the break-even mark for the first time since they were 20-19 on May 14. Ventura snapped a four-start losing streak on Thursday against St. Louis, as he allowed a pair of runs and seven hits in six innings to run his record to 3-5, while lowering his ERA to 3.41.

The 23-year-old righty had skipped his previous start with some soreness in his elbow.

"He looked fine, threw the ball well, had good velocity on his fastball," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "He settled down, got us through six innings. I really thought about sending him back out in the seventh, but 91 pitches, I didn't really want to take him much over 100."

Cleveland, meanwhile, will turn to a young hurler of its own in 23-year-old righty Trevor Bauer, who is 1-2 on the year with a 4.08 ERA. Bauer has not received a decision his last two times out and was not impressive on Friday in Texas, as he surrendered four runs in 6 1/3 innings of his team's 6-4 loss.

"Last outing he probably got a little conscious about pitching in a little too much," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "It's something we do stress a lot, because I think it opens up the plate, especially with some of the bigger guys because if you let them get their arms extended they hurt you."

Cleveland took three of four from the Royals earlier this season.






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