Royals beat Cy Young winner Corey Kluber, Indians 6-2 to open series in Cleveland

A desolate ballpark came alive as Mike Moustakas traipsed back to the Royals dugout. A series of high-pitched catcalls echoed through the barren confines of Progressive Field as Moustakas searched for fresh lumber. A lone voice implored him to hurry up. He did not listen.

In the seventh inning of a 6-2 Royals victory, Moustakas jousted with the man most recently crowned the best pitcher in the American League. Each player possessed a plan, and neither intended to deviate. Indians starter Corey Kluber desired to seize the inner half of the plate and target a perceived weakness. Moustakas hoped to neutralize Kluber’s scheme until a hittable pitch arrived.

“I was just trying to battle and battle,” Moustakas said. “Wait until he left something out over the plate that I could get some good wood on.”

A new bat in hand, Moustakas placed his feet inside the batter’s box. He wiped his face with each twirl of the bat. He fouled off two more pitches. The ninth offering of the encounter was a 94-mph fastball that nicked the outer edge of the zone. It met Moustakas’ liking, so he lined it into left field for an RBI single, his third hit of the game, to raise his team’s lead to two and ignite a three-run rally of insurance.

After Moustakas plated outfielder Jarrod Dyson, Kendrys Morales cracked a groundball that former Royal Mike Aviles played into a run-scoring error. Alex Gordon provided an RBI single, his second hit of the night, having already allowed his team to reclaim the lead with an RBI double in the sixth. The offense spoiled Kluber’s evening with shortened swings and tenacious at-bats to hang six runs on him.

Kansas City (13-6) issued a statement after a chaotic, unsuccessful series against the White Sox. The club snapped a losing streak at a mere two games.

“You don’t want to go to three in a row,” manager Ned Yost said. “So that was huge, to come in here with a team that is going be in all the way through, to grind out a big win, especially against a guy like Kluber.”

The seventh-inning flurry allowed the Royals to breathe easier during the final three frames. Jason Vargas gave up two runs but only lasted five innings. Manager Ned Yost opted for Ryan Madson and Franklin Morales for the next two before he turned to his usual combination of Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis for the final six outs.

The offense came alive as Moustakas continued his torrid April with four more hits. In the past six outings, Moustakas has delivered a trio of games with at least three hits. In all of 2014, he completed only a pair of three-hit games.

“I know the work that he puts into it,” Yost said. “I know the pride that he has going into it. I’m just pleased to see him doing so well.”

After a frigid weekend in Chicago, another miserable evening of weather awaited the Royals. The temperature at first pitch was 44 degrees – and that was with the sun shining during a 6:10 p.m. start. Rookie Paulo Orlando before the game pointed to a row of heaters lining the dugout roof, a welcome addition after the more primitive accommodations at U.S. Cellular Field.

“I like this,” Orlando said as he wended his way through a small group of reporters.

“Just like Sao Paulo, huh?” one of the team’s broadcasters asked the 29-year-old Brazilian.

“No, no,” Orlando smiled.

If the weather was not forgiving, neither was Kansas City’s opponent. A series packed with difficult pitching matchups began with Kluber, the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner. Kluber dominated the Royals as he transformed into a star last season. In 31 innings against him, Kansas City managed only four earned runs.

Kluber relies upon the mixture of his two-seam fastball and an 88-mph cutter that exhibits the exaggerated movement of a slider. Yost credited improved command as the source of Kluber’s excellence in 2014. “I mean, he just painted on the inside corner, outside corner, up and in, at will,” Yost said.

One of the few Royals with a notable history of success against Kluber is Moustakas. He entered the day with a .381 batting average and a 1.149 on-base plus slugging percentage. Moustakas could not pinpoint the reason for his past success against Kluber, but he utilized his newfound offensive strategy in his first at-bat. He rolled a single past a vacated third base, and then did himself one base better in his second time up.

Moustakas came to the plate with his team already ahead. In the inning prior, Salvador Perez smacked a double and Omar Infante chopped a grounder toward shortstop Jose Ramirez. The Indians feature one of the game’s worst defenses. The baseball rolled up Ramirez’s glove and into the outfield. Perez scored the game’s first run.

Now Moustakas sliced a 94-mph sinker into the left-center gap for an opposite-field double. Two batters later, Kluber left a first-pitch cutter over the middle for Eric Hosmer. He punched a single into center to plate Moustakas.

The two-run lead never appeared safe. Vargas walked five batters through the game’s first four innings. He threw 102 pitches and half were balls. He avoided damage thanks, in part, to advantageous positioning by his defenders. “He managed to make pitches when he needed to,” Yost said.

In the fifth, Cleveland guaranteed the Royals would not defend their pitcher. Jason Kipnis lashed a fastball off the top of the right-field wall. Jarrod Dyson fielded the ball after its carom and limited Kipnis to a single. Vargas segued into a six-pitch dalliance with Aviles. With the count full, Aviles tied the game when he smoked a line-drive homer over the fence in left on an inside fastball.

“He hadn’t really made any good passes on fastballs in all night,” Vargas said. “He gets that one. You tip your cap, and you move on.”

The Royals kept swinging. Gordon doubled home a run in the sixth. An inning later, Moustakas refused to give in, and Kansas City salted away the victory.

The next two days remain imposing. The Royals face hard-throwing righties Trevor Bauer and Danny Salazar to finish the series. But on Monday, after a weekend marred by fights and marked by losses, Kansas City turned the page with ease.

“That’s what we do,” Moustakas said. “We already forgot about yesterday. That’s what’s great about this team. We’ve got short-term memory loss.”

Royals 6, Indians 2

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b-struck out for Sands in the 6th. c-struck out for R.Perez in the 9th.

E: Aviles (2), Kipnis (1), J.Ramirez (4). LOB: Kansas City 9, Cleveland 6. 2B: Moustakas (5), A.Gordon (3), S.Perez (4), Kipnis (1), Bourn (3). HR: Aviles (2), off J.Vargas. RBIs: Moustakas (7), Hosmer (11), A.Gordon 2 (9), Aviles 2 (3). SB: J.Dyson 3 (3). CS: A.Gordon (1).

Runners left in scoring position: Kansas City 6 (K.Morales, A.Escobar, Infante 2, S.Perez, A.Gordon); Cleveland 5 (Raburn 2, J.Ramirez, C.Santana, Aviles). RISP: Kansas City 5 for 14; Cleveland 0 for 5. Runners moved up: A.Escobar, C.Santana. GIDP: K.Morales, Infante, C.Santana. DP: Kansas City 1 (Infante, Hosmer); Cleveland 2 (Kipnis, J.Ramirez, C.Santana), (J.Ramirez, Kipnis, C.Santana).

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Inherited runners-scored: Hagadone 2-2, McAllister 2-0. IBB: off Kluber (S.Perez). HBP: by Kluber (A.Gordon). Holds: Madson (2).

Umpires:Home, Jordan Baker; First, Andy Fletcher; Second, Jerry Meals; Third, Paul Emmel. Time:3:22. Att: 9,668

This story was originally published April 27, 2015 at 8:36 PM with the headline "Royals beat Cy Young winner Corey Kluber, Indians 6-2 to open series in Cleveland."