Cleveland 11, Kansas City 9
When: 7:10 PM ET, Saturday, April 14, 2012
Where: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
Temperature:
72°
Umpires:
Home -
Gary Darling, 1B -
Jerry Meals, 2B -
Lance Barrett, 3B -
Paul Emmel
Attendance:
21788
By SportsDirect Inc.
Indians 11, Royals 9 (10): Shin-Soo Choo's two-run double in the 10th inning lifted visiting Cleveland in a slugfest that saw the benches empty twice in the third inning and featured a stirring comeback by the home team.
Choo, who was at the center of the ill feelings between the clubs when he was hit by a pitch in the knee in the third inning, rescued the Indians after they blew a seven-run lead with his double to left-center off Greg Holland (0-1).
Jason Kipnis belted a two-run home run, Casey Kotchman had a solo shot and Asrubal Cabrera had three hits to give Cleveland its second straight win in the series.
Mike Moustakas had a pair of RBI doubles and Billy Butler added a run-scoring double and single to rally the Royals, who trailed 5-0 and 9-2.
Kansas City chipped away at the lead with two runs apiece in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings before drawing even at 9-9 on Yuniesky Betancourt's solo homer in the eighth.
The fireworks started during Cleveland's five-run third when Royals starter Jonathan Sanchez plunked Choo on the knee. Choo, who suffered a fractured thumb last year when he was hit by Sanchez, yelled at the pitcher as the dugouts emptied.
Indians starter Jeanmar Gomez hit Moustakas to lead off the bottom of the inning, again causing players to storm the field. Gomez was immediately tossed and manager Manny Acta and third baseman Jack Hannahan were also ejected once order was restored.
Sanchez lasted only 2 2/3 innings, surrendering five runs on six hits. He also walked four and hit the one batter.
Jairo Asencio (1-1) pitched one inning for the winning and Chris Perez earned his second save.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Gomez had a no-hitter through two innings when he got the heave-ho. He was charged with a run when Alcides Escobar tripled off reliever Josh Tomlin to plate Moustakas. ... Choo missed nearly two months last year due to the broken thumb. ... Jose Lopez and Carlos Santana drove in two runs apiece for the Indians. ... The Royals had five doubles in the contest.
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
Cleveland
|
14 |
2 |
26 |
.333 |
21 |
6 |
11 |
6 |
1 |
2 |
Kansas City
|
11 |
1 |
21 |
.282 |
11 |
4 |
8 |
1 |
0 |
0 |