CLEVELAND -- It was a rally that came out of nowhere, climaxed by Francisco Lindor going somewhere -- fast.

"I was going to score no matter what," Lindor said after the Cleveland Indians scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning for a wild 5-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night at Progressive Field.

The runs came on an RBI triple by Lindor and a walk-off sacrifice fly by Mike Napoli.

Trailing 4-3, the Indians got a single from Carlos Santana leading off the ninth inning against Joakim Soria (2-2). Santana's hit was bobbled by right fielder Paulo Orlando, with the error allowing Santana to go to second.

"Carlos put himself in position to help that miscue by running aggressively," Indians manager Terry Francona said.

Lindor added, "That play won the game for us. It gave us momentum. We believed we could do it."

A sacrifice bunt by Jason Kipnis moved Santana to third.

Lindor then lined hit a triple past Orlando in right field, scoring Santana with the tying run.

"As soon as I saw the ball drop, I said to myself, 'Run until they say stop'," Lindor said.

Napoli followed with a sacrifice fly to left field as Lindor scored from third with the winning run.

"We basically gave the game away," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "We had some breakdowns and ended up losing the game. It feels like we let that one get away, and that never feels good."

The win went to Tommy Hunter (2-1), who pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings. The loss snapped Kansas City's six-game winning streak.

Soria pitched the ninth because closer Wade Davis pitched in each of the previous two games.

"We just didn't want to use him three days in a row," Yost said.

Drew Butera and Cheslor Cuthbert homered for the Royals, who led 4-2 after seven innings.

In the sixth inning, Cuthbert hit a 1-1 pitch from Cleveland reliever Austin Adams into the left field bleachers for his second home run of the season, giving Kansas City a 4-2 lead.

The Indians made it a one-run game in the eighth with a run off Kelvin Herrera. Napoli led off the inning with an infield single and went to second on a throwing error by shortstop Alcides Escobar. Napoli eventually scored on a two-out single by Tyler Naquin, cutting the deficit to 4-3.

Cuthbert and Reymond Fuentes had three hits each for the Royals. Lindor, Napoli and Jose Ramirez had two hits apiece for the Indians.

Cleveland right-hander Carlos Carrasco made his first start since April 24, the day he strained his left hamstring, which resulted in a five-week stay on the disabled list.

Carrasco pitched five innings, giving up three runs on nine hits with two strikeouts and one walk.

"He threw well," Francona said. "He made a couple costly mistakes, but it's good to have him back because he's a big guy for us."

The Indians struck first with a run off Yordano Ventura on an RBI single by Lonnie Chisenhall in the second inning.

The Royals took a 2-1 lead in the third inning. Jarrod Dyson led off with a single, and he scored when Butera homered into the left field bleachers. It was Butera's first home run of the season.

"Carlos was trying to go down and away, but he left it middle-middle," Francona said.

The Indians got a run back in the bottom of the third on an RBI single by Ramirez, and the game was tied at 2.

In the fourth inning, Carrasco retired the first two batters but then gave up consecutive two-out singles to Fuentes, Cuthbert and Dyson. Fuentes scored on Dyson's hit to give the Royals a 3-2 lead.

Ventura wound up allowing two runs (one earned) on seven hits in six innings. He struck out two and walked three.

NOTES: Prior to the game, the Indians optioned RHP Mike Clevinger to Triple-A Columbus, to make room on the roster for RHP Carlos Carrasco, who was activated off the disabled list. In three starts with the Indians, Clevinger was 0-1 with an 8.79 ERA. ... The Indians are 15-7 against AL Central opponents and 13-17 against non-division teams. ... During batting practice, Royals SS Alcides Escobar wore a Kyrie Irving replica jersey. ... Since the start of the 2013 season, the Royals lead the majors with 449 stolen bases, and their 80 percent success rate on stolen base attempts is also the best in the majors in that span.