Royals back in their comfort zone, beat Indians 2-1

Even as the Royals were building toward championships over the past few seasons they didn’t win at home like this.

The Royals’ 2-1 triumph over the Indians on Monday in front of 31,269 fans at Kauffman Stadium kept them rolling on home soil. That’s 20 victories in 27 games, a .741 clip.

The Royals won 63 percent of their regular season home games during the 2015 World Series title season.

This year’s success at home amplifies the failure on the road, where the Royals have lost a baseball-most 23.

“We’re really comfortable playing here,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what the difference is. We just have to start playing better on the road.

The home mojo smiled directly on Monday’s standouts Edinson Volquez and Whit Merrifield from the game’s outset.

The Indians had been especially unkind to Volquez, as a Royal and throughout his career. He arrived at the ballpark lugging a 2-6 lifetime record and 8.12 ERA against the Indians. As a Royal, he was 1-4.

Monday looked like another long night against his nemesis. Of Volquez’s first 10 pitches, nine missed the strike zone.

Volquez followed the two walks with two pop outs, but then he walked a third before coaxing a groundout. Still, a 28-pitch first inning didn’t bode well as Volquez was having trouble finding his arm slot.

But Volquez turned it around and was masterful through the rest of his appearance. Over seven innings he yielded two hits. He threw 95 pitches, 67 over his final six innings.

It marked the third straight solid outing for Royals starter with Volquez improving to 6-6 and following Danny Duffy and Yordano Ventura in the victory column.

“I followed them,” Volquez said. “That’s what we want to do as a team. Some guy goes seven or eight innings, and you’re up the next day. That’s that you want to do, go seven or eight.”

Kelvin Herrera was greeted with a Jason Kipnis home run to start the eighth and followed by a walk Francisco Lindor. A double play ended the inning, and another one gave Wade Davis a boost in the ninth after Lonnie Chisenhall opened with a bade hit. But Yan Gomes hit into the Indians’ third double play of the game.

Herrera and Davis pitched for the third straight day, speaking to the importance of the series against the first-place Indians. The Royals entered Monday tied with the Tigers, each three games behind Cleveland. The victory shaves off one of those games and improves the Royals, who have won three straight, to 33-30.

“These are two-game swings here,” Yost said. “We lose tonight we’re down four. We were pulling out all the stops tonight”

That included getting power swings from one of the least likely sources.

Merrifield entered his 22nd major league game without a triple or home run. He collected both in his first three plate appearances.

“This kid is not a flash in the pan, his swing works up here,” Yost said.

Merrifield had been productive in his first big league month, beyond expectation. He’s worked his way into the lineup at leadoff, and he’s hitting, carrying a .322 average into the game.

There had been some pop, with nine doubles. By the fourth inning Monday, he was half way to the cycle the hard way.

Merrifield’s home run came on a 0-2 pitch from Carlos Carrasco and cleared the Royals’ bullpen in left field, a shot measured at 402 feet. This from a player who hit 35 minor league home runs in six seasons.

“I tried to throw down and away, and it kind of came back a little bit,” Carrasco said.

In the first, Merrifield’s liner to right field to wasn’t routine but Chisenhall in right field made a catch impossible by taking the wrong route. The ball flew over his outstretched arms and to the wall. Merrifield slid head first into third with a triple.

When Alcides Escobar dropped a bloop single to right, the Royals had opened the scoring. They were back in their comfort zone.

Monday’s box score

Royals 2, Indians 1

E: Escobar (9). LOB: Cleveland 7, Kansas City 8. 2B: Kipnis (11). 3B: Merrifield (1). HR: Kipnis (8), off Herrera; Merrifield (1), off Carrasco. RBIs: Kipnis (32), Merrifield (6), Escobar (17). CS: Escobar (3).

Runners left in scoring position: Cleveland 4 (Napoli, Chisenhall 2, R.Davis); Kansas City 3 (Escobar, Morales, Fuentes). RISP: Cleveland 0 for 8; Kansas City 1 for 6. Runners moved up: Merrifield. GIDP: Ramirez, Gomes 2, Cain. DP: Cleveland 1 (Lindor, Kipnis, Napoli); Kansas City 4 (Merrifield, Escobar, Hosmer), (Escobar, Merrifield, Hosmer), (Merrifield, Escobar, Hosmer), (Escobar, Merrifield, Hosmer).

Hold: Herrera (18).

Umpires: Home, Eric Cooper; First, Jim Wolf; Second, Ramon De Jesus; Third, Gary Cederstrom.

Time: 2:42. Attendance: 31,269.

This story was originally published June 13, 2016 at 10:09 PM with the headline "Royals back in their comfort zone, beat Indians 2-1."