Cleveland Indians Win 6-1 Behind Danny Salazar’s Gem

The Cleveland Indians topped the Kansas City Royals for the second night in a row, beating the reigning World Series champions 6-1. Danny Salazar (6-3) pitched another gem for the Tribe going eight strong innings in earning the win. The Indians moved to 29-24 while the loss drops the Royals to 30-24 as they cling to just a mere half game lead over the Tribe in the division. 

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Salazar had one of his best starts of the season, which is saying something considering the year he’s had. He went eight innings, allowing just one run on three hits. He did walk five though and allowed a solo home run to Drew Butera that tied the game at one in the 3rd inning. After that, though, Salazar was virtually lights out. He struck out nine and lowered his season ERA to 2.24, now the second-lowest in the American League. Reliever Bryan Shaw relieved Salazar after 113 pitches and worked a perfect 9th inning preserving the win.

The Indians got on the board in the 2nd inning thanks to a solo home run by catcher Yan Gomes, his seventh of the year. After the Royals tied it a half-inning later, the Indians responded scoring three runs in the bottom of the 3rd. An RBI single by Francisco Lindor gave the Indians the lead back at 2-1. Mike Napoli followed with an RBI double, scoring Lindor making it 3-1. Napoli would later come around to score on a wild pitch by Royals starter Edinson Volquez.

The Indians added a fifth run off Volquez in the 7th inning on a solo home run by rookie Tyler Naquin to left field, the first of his career.  Jose Ramirez added the Tribe’s sixth and final run in the 8th inning off reliever Ching-Ming Wang. After Ramirez doubled to left field, he stole third base and scored when the throw went into left field. It was Ramirez’s 14th double of the season and raised his season average to .325 on the season.

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The win moved the Indians into a tie in the loss column with the Royals. The Tribe will look to move into first place tomorrow when the two clubs face off at 7:15 pm on National television (Fox). The Indians will send out Josh Tomlin (7-1, 3.79 ERA) while the Royals will counter with Ian Kennedy (4-3, 3.03 ERA).