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Kipnis and Lopez help Indians end skid
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Cleveland Indians’ Juan Diaz reaches first base on an error by Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer (35) in the seventh inning of Monday’s baseball game in Cleveland. The Indians held off the Royals to win 8-5.
Associated Press
CLEVELAND
Jason Kipnis is leading the way for the Cleveland Indians’ injury-ravaged lineup.
Kipnis had three hits and two RBIs, Jose Lopez drove in three runs and Lonnie Chisenhall homered in his first at-bat after being recalled from the minors as reinforcement to help the Indians beat the Kansas City Royals 8-5 Monday.
“We can’t replace the guys we’ve lost, but we’re scoring some runs,” said Kipnis, who is 12 for 24 with six RBIs over his past six games.
Cleveland was without ailing 3-4-5 hitters Asdrubal Cabrera, Carlos Santana and Travis Hafner, but had 14 hits to snap a three-game losing streak.
“You’ve got to give it to these guys,” manager Manny Acta said. “They find a way. I was glad we cut off that streak.
“Guys like Kipnis do a pretty good job of putting things behind them. They just say, ‘Let’s go get ‘em.’ ”
Josh Tomlin (2-2) gave up four runs and four hits in five innings. The right-hander had not pitched since May 7 due to right wrist tendinitis.
“I felt fine, like I could have kept going,” Tomlin said, adding that he understood the Indians’ cautious approach with him.
Kipnis had a two-run single in a five-run third against Nate Adcock (0-3) as the first-place Indians maintained a half-game lead in the AL Central over the Chicago White Sox. Cleveland had lost three in a row at Chicago over the weekend, allowing 35 runs.
“That series was kind of a train wreck for us,” Tomlin said. “We wanted to get back here and get a win.”
Chris Perez, at odds with booing fans 10 days ago, got a standing ovation as he worked a perfect ninth for his 17th save. His only blown save came on opening day.
“I feel great, confident,” Perez said. “I felt that way in spring training, too. That’s why opening day was a head-scratcher.”
Kansas City got a two-run homer from Eric Hosmer and a solo drive by Brayan Pena but lost for the eighth time in 12 games.
With the bases loaded and one out in the third, Kipnis sent a hard grounder through the middle for two runs and a 3-2 Indians lead. Lopez followed with a chopper off the plate for an RBI single. Third baseman Mike Moustakas had no play on Lopez, but caught Kipnis advancing too far around second. Second base umpire Dan Bellino ruled that Kipnis ducked under Moustakas’ tag and made it to third.
“He said he never saw him tag him,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “Everybody else in the stadium saw it. I don’t know how he managed to miss it.”
Moustakas was certain he tagged Kipnis.
“[Bellino] might have been in a bad spot,” Moustakas said. “He couldn’t see anything. That was something we needed right there. He ends up scoring. We can’t have that.”
Casey Kotchman’s RBI single made it 5-2 and finished Adcock.