INDIANS Magruder makes most of opportunity

The outfielder had two hits and drove in four in a 6-5 win.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Chris Magruder's first major league appearance of the year came in mid-September, with his team all but eliminated. He made up for lost time.
"When it's your first game, it doesn't matter what time of year it is -- April, August, September," said Magruder, who was 4-for-5 with a triple and two RBIs in the Cleveland Indians' 6-5 victory Thursday over the Kansas City Royals. "You have to take the approach that it's the biggest game of your life."
The switch-hitting outfielder spent the first half of the season on the disabled list after tearing a ligament in his left thumb in the spring. The Indians brought him up from Triple-A Buffalo on Tuesday.
"He had some really big hits for us today," manager Eric Wedge said. "He made a lot of improvement from the left side, which is something we really wanted to see from him."
Mistakes costly
The Royals, meanwhile, made several costly mistakes in a loss that kept them 31/2 games out in the AL Central with 17 games to go.
Desi Relaford was picked off twice by reliever Terry Mulholland, who took over for starter Jake Westbrook after two early rain delays.
Royals third baseman Joe Randa, who went 3-for-5 with a three-run homer and four RBIs, committed a throwing error in the eighth inning that led to Alex Escobar's game-winning RBI single.
After Jody Gerut singled off reliever Jason Grimsley to open the eighth, Casey Blake grounded to Randa. He threw toward second, trying to start a double play, but the ball sailed into right field and Gerut went to third.
Grimsley (2-6) struck out Ben Broussard before Escobar capped his second straight three-hit game with a single to left.
"It was a bad throw at a bad time, and it cost us the game," said Randa, refusing to blame sloppy field conditions caused by the rain. "It doesn't matter how many great plays you've made up to that point, it comes down to that play."
Until this series, Escobar had never had three hits in a game.
"I just had a couple of good games," he said. "That last one, I just got a pitch I liked and put a good swing on it."
Danys Baez (2-8), the fourth of five pitchers used by the Indians, earned the win with a scoreless inning of work.
David Riske relieved Baez with two on and two outs in the eighth. He struck out Brent Mayne to end the inning and stayed on through the ninth for his sixth save.