Royals 2 - 0 Guardians
Final
  for this game

Royals gain ground in AL Central

Sep 23, 2014 - 5:45 AM Cleveland, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - Limited to one pitch in his last outing, Danny Duffy returned to toss six scoreless innings and help the Kansas City Royals gain ground in the AL Central with a 2-0 win over the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field.

Duffy (9-11) pitched for the first time since Sept. 6, when he departed against the New York Yankees because of tightness in his left shoulder. He got into some early trouble Monday night, but held the Indians to six hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

"A little rusty with his command, but his stuff was phenomenal," Royals manager Ned Yost said about Duffy. "

Eric Hosmer and Alcides Escobar both knocked in a run for Kansas City, which moved to within a game of the division-leading Detroit Tigers.

Carlos Carrasco (8-6) gave up two runs on seven hits, walked one and struck out nine in 7 1/3 innings for Cleveland.

"We won the first game," said Carrasco. "We're trying to play good baseball."

Before this game, the teams completed a suspended contest from last month. The Indians held on for a 4-3, 10-inning victory, but the loss in the opener of this scheduled three-game set saw them fall back to 3 1/2 games behind the Royals for the AL's second wild-card spot.

Coming off a two-hit shutout in his previous start, Carrasco allowed three hits in the first inning, including Hosmer's two-out liner off the glove of first baseman Chris Gimenez that plated Nori Aoki.

The Indians threatened to score in home half of the first, loading the bases with no outs on a walk and two singles. Carlos Santana popped out, Yan Gomes was called out on strikes and Mike Aviles flied out, however, as Duffy escaped the early jam.

In the second, Duffy retired Jose Ramirez on a groundout to strand two more runners.

The Royals made it 2-0 in the fifth as Omar Infante doubled and scored on Escobar's sharp one-hopper that deflected off the shortstop Ramirez's glove.

Cleveland left a runner at second in the seventh and eighth innings before going down in order in the ninth against Greg Holland, who earned his 44th save of the season.

Game Notes

With a win in the resumption of the suspended game, the Indians clinched consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 2000-01 ... Cleveland left fielder Michael Brantley extended his hitting streak to 13 games.






Related News