Indians beat Kansas City; Masterson now 4-0

Photo by: Charlie Riedel

AP

Photo

Cleveland Indians' Carlos Santana, right, beats the tag by Kansas City Royals third baseman Mike Aviles, left, to advances to third on a single by Travis Hafner during the ninth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, April 20, 2011, in Kansas City, Mo.

Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo.

Justin Masterson remained unbeaten in four decisions and the Cleveland Indians, after being stymied for five innings by Luke Hochevar, rallied to beat Kansas City 7-5 on Wednesday night.

Hochevar (2-2) retired the first 15 batters, allowing only three balls to be hit hard, and ran his string of retired batters over two starts to 31 straight. But he lost his no-hitter, his shutout, his composure and his lead in a messy sixth that saw the Indians send nine men to the plate.

Masterson (4-0) settled down after allowing two runs in the first inning. The right-hander, who was 6-13 a year ago, allowed six hits and five walks and struck out three in six innings.

Melky Cabrera’s RBI double in the ninth off Tony Sipp ended a string of 91/3 scoreless innings for the Cleveland bullpen and Jeff Francoeur, on an 0-2 pitch with two out, followed with a two-run home run. Francoeur had three RBIs.

Chris Perez came in to get the last out and earn his sixth save in six opportunities.

Michael Brantley’s leadoff single in the sixth broke up Hochevar’s perfect game, then the pitcher balked him to second and surrendered an RBI double to Matt LaPorta. After LaPorta went to third on an infield out, Hochevar balked him home, tying it 2-all.

Before Orlando Cabrera struck out on the 36th pitch of the inning, the Indians had taken a 4-2 lead on two-out RBI doubles by Shin-Soo Choo and Travis Hafner.

After Hochevar walked the first two batters in the seventh, Tim Collins relieved and No. 9 hitter Jack Hannahan, after failing to sacrifice, pulled a two-run double into the right-field corner.

Hochevar was charged with six runs on five hits, with four strikeouts, three walks and two balks as the Indians widened their lead in the AL Central to two games over the Royals.