Kansas City 2, Cleveland 1
When: 8:10 PM ET, Thursday, July 24, 2014
Where: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
Temperature:
81°
Umpires:
Home -
Chris Conroy, 1B -
Jordan Baker, 2B -
Jerry Meals, 3B -
Paul Emmel
Attendance:
22120
By SportsDirect Inc.
Royals 2, Indians 1 (14): Norichika Aoki delivered a one-out RBI single in the 14th inning as host Kansas City captured the opener of the four-game series between the American League Central rivals.
Lorenzo Cain began the decisive frame with an infield single off Marc Rzepczynski (0-3) and stole second before Aoki lined a base hit into left field off John Axford to end the marathon. Mike Moustakas doubled and scored in the eighth while Aaron Crow (5-1) struck out the side in the top of the 14th to earn the win - Kansas City's third in a row.
Carlos Santana went 2-for-4 with two walks and a run scored for the Indians, who have lost four of their last five contests. Lonnie Chisenhall also recorded two hits and Corey Kluber turned in a brilliant performance, striking out 10 while allowing an unearned run and two hits over nine innings while flirting with perfection.
Neither team produced a baserunner until the fifth inning, when Santana led off with a single for Cleveland. Omar Infante ended Kluber's perfect-game bid with a one-out single to center in the seventh but was thrown out attempting to steal second.
The Indians loaded the bases with one out in the eighth against Wade Davis, who escaped unscathed by getting All-Star Michael Brantley to ground into a double play. Moustakas snapped the scoreless tie in the eighth, hitting a one-out double and scoring on left fielder Ryan Raburn's throwing error, but Yan Gomes delivered an RBI single with two outs in the ninth to forge a tie.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Royals LHP Danny Duffy also was superb, yielding two hits and two walks while striking out seven over seven scoreless innings. ... Santana is 8-for-17 over his last four games. ... Kansas City RHP Greg Holland blew a save opportunity for just the second time in 28 opportunities this season.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Cleveland |
|
Kansas City |
Corey Kluber
|
Player |
Danny Duffy
|
No Decision |
W/L |
No Decision |
9.0 |
IP |
7.0 |
10 |
Strikeouts |
7 |
2 |
Hits |
2 |
0.00 |
ERA |
0.00 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
Cleveland
|
7 |
0 |
7 |
.152 |
20 |
15 |
1 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
Kansas City
|
5 |
0 |
7 |
.116 |
4 |
12 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |