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Royals inch toward postseason in Cleveland

Sep 23, 2014 - 2:55 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - Though the Kansas City Royals split their two games with the Cleveland Indians on Monday, all-around it was a good night for the club's playoff chances.

The Royals hope to further entrench themselves into the postseason picture on Tuesday night when they resume a three-game series with the Cleveland Indians.

Kansas City was able to gain some ground despite a loss to Cleveland earlier on Monday in the completion of suspended game from Aug. 31. The Indians held on for a 4-3 win, but the Royals came back to win the official opener of this series, 2-0.

Coupled with losses by Detroit and Seattle in their respective series and Kansas City moved to within a game of the Tigers for first place in the American League Central and pulled two games clear of the Mariners for the league's second wild card spot.

The Indians sit 3 1/2 games behind the Royals.

Danny Duffy returned to the rotation to hurl six scoreless innings, overcoming some early trouble to hold the Tribe to six hits while striking out five. He was making his first appearance since exiting a start on Sept. 6 after just one pitch due to left shoulder tightness.

"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.

Carlos Carrasco gave up two runs on seven hits, walked one and struck out nine in 7 1/3 innings for Cleveland, which beat Kansas City for a fourth straight time by winning the suspended game before that run came to an end in the opener

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

The Royals turn to 23-year-old Yordano Ventura, who has pitched to a 2.33 earned run average over his last nine starts and won four of his past five outings.

Ventura is coming off a win on Wednesday over the Chicago White Sox, who he held to a run on three hits and two walks over seven innings. He also struck out seven, moving to 13-10 with a 3.19 ERA on the year.

The right-hander is 2-0 in four previous starts against the Indians with a 1.98 ERA.

Danny Salazar gets the start for the Indians winless in his past three starts, though he pitched well in a no-decision at Houston on Thursday. The right- hander limited the Astros to a run over 7 1/3 innings, working around five hits and a walk while striking out nine.

Salazar is 6-7 with a 4.02 ERA on the year, but has pitched to a 2.74 ERA over his last seven.

The 24-year-old has split four previous encounters with the Royals with a 4.43 ERA, though he blanked them over five innings for a win on Aug. 29.