Indians sweep pair from Royals



Cleveland outscored Kansas City 18-10 in the doubleheader.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The Kansas City Royals are wondering what happened to the meek Cleveland Indians who scored three meager runs in three games against them last week.
That free-swinging bunch had 31 hits and 18 runs in two wins Monday and bore no resemblance to the team the Royals swept three games from in Cleveland last week.
Casey Blake was particularly surprising. The third baseman, who missed Cleveland's weekend series against Cincinnati to be with his wife in Iowa, homered in both ends of the doubleheader. He drove in eight runs as the Indians took a 10-5 victory in the opener and an 8-5 win in the nightcap.
"I was lucky," he said. "I was worried that my timing might be off, after missing three days. But I got a lucky [hit] to drop in and that helped my confidence. Confidence can take you a long way in this game."
No birth yet
Blake was home in Indianola, Iowa, because everyone thought his wife, Abbie, was about to give birth to their second child. But finally, doctors sent her home.
Blake had five hits in the two games as the Indians got their first doubleheader sweep since Sept. 20, 2000, in Boston.
"Casey's been doing a pretty consistent job for us all year," Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said. "But today he really felt comfortable and drove the ball all over the place."
Blake's two homers raised his season total to eight and stretched his hitting streak to 11 games.
"I was just trying to get a little timing back and see the ball," he said. "I got lucky today. Hitting's a lot of luck."
In the meantime, Abbie is back in Indianola, still waiting for the birth.
"She thought she was going into labor," Casey said. "We thought it was the real thing. But as soon as I got there, things sort of calmed down.
"I got a call and they said, 'We've got a doubleheader. You've got to be here.' But I was ready to come back because there wasn't anything I could do there."
Second place
The Royals have lost four straight to fall out of first place in the AL Central, giving up 44 runs in the skid.
"We will come out of it," manager Tony Pena said.
Matt Lawton and Blake each had two-run homers in the first inning of the nightcap off Kyle Snyder, who left after four innings with tightness in his right shoulder.
"It was something they saw," Snyder said. "They thought it affected my delivery. I would have liked to have the opportunity to pitch out of it."
His replacement, Les Walrond (0-2), was tagged for four runs and five hits in just one-third of an inning, giving up two-run homers to Jody Gerut and Tim Laker.
"I've had bad ballgames before," Walrond said. "I knew I had all the time I needed, but I've always been kind of impatient. My balls were up, and big league hitters are going to hit you then."
Nightcap
Brian Anderson (5-6) gave up five runs and eight hits in six innings for the win in the nightcap. Danys Baez pitched the ninth for his 19th save in 24 chances.
In the opener, Cliff Lee got his first major league victory before being shipped back to Triple-A Buffalo. The left-hander went six-plus innings and gave up three hits and two unearned runs.
"I gave them six quality innings," Lee said. "They told me coming in it would be one start and then go out."
Blake also had a sacrifice fly in the opener for a career-high five RBIs. Lawton was 3-for-4 with two doubles and a single, and Milton Bradley and Gerut each drove in two runs.
Brad Voyles (0-1), recalled earlier in the day from Triple-A Omaha to make his first start of the season, gave up four runs and eight hits in 41/3 innings. He, too, was told after the game that he was headed right back to Triple-A.
"He showed me some good things," Pena said. "He'll be back up."
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