Asdrubal Cabrera knew a fastball was coming.
He hit it for a grand slam.
Cabrera capped a 10-run fifth inning with his second career grand slam and the Cleveland Indians routed the Kansas City Royals 15-3 Sunday.
”It was a fastball and I was not surprised,” said Cabrera, who had three hits and scored three runs as Cleveland improved to 2-1 with interim manager Sandy Alomar Jr.
”They pitched me the same way every time this series,” Cabrera said. ”First pitch, curveball, then a changeup and then fastball. So I hit it.”
Zach McAllister (6-8) benefited from the Indians tying a season high in runs and hits, 19. It was their ninth double-digit hit total in 10 games. They’ve won six of them, including a 15-4 victory in Kansas City a week ago.
McAllister pitched five-hit ball over 6 2-3 innings, allowing three runs.
”It was nice to have all those runs,” said the right-hander, who won for the first time in nine starts since beating Boston on Aug. 11. The rookie started 4-1 with a 3.17 ERA in eight starts after being called up from Triple-A Columbus. Then he was part of Cleveland’s second-half struggles.
”It’s been a big learning year, both good and bad,” said McAllister, who has yielded three runs or fewer in 16 of 22 outings. ”Today, I didn’t have my best stuff, but got through it.”
The Indians are 5-2 after a disastrous 12-41 stretch dropped them out of the AL Central race and cost manager Manny Acta his job. General manager Chris Antonetti will interview Alomar and former Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona soon for the fulltime position and expects a few other candidates to be in the search process.
The 10-run inning was Cleveland’s first since doing it in Kansas City in a 19-1 win on May 16, 2011. The Indians had not scored 10 in an inning at home since an 11-run first inning against the Royals on Aug. 13, 2006.
Cleveland went 9 for 20 with runners in scoring position after stranding 20 men on base in a 7-6 loss in 14 innings on Saturday.
”That’s baseball,” Alomar said. ”We took what they gave us and kept the line moving, tried not to do too much.”
Royals starter Luke Hochevar (8-16) was tagged for nine runs over 4 2-3 innings.
”It got away in a hurry,” manager Ned Yost said after the Royals’ seventh loss in eight games. ”A 10-run fifth is not good for your business.”
Lou Marson’s two-out RBI single put Cleveland ahead 1-0 in the second.
Cleveland broke it open in the fifth. Shin-Soo Choo doubled to start the rally and later had a two-run single. Jason Kipnis and Jack Hannahan each had RBI doubles. Other runs scored on a forceout by Casey Kotchman and when Jason Donald was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
Cabrera had a bunt single in the midst of the rally before connecting for his slam off lefty reliever Everett Teaford.
”The third baseman was playing back, so I took it,” Cabrera said of the bunt. ”I just wanted to get on base and keep it going.”
Hochevar dropped to 1-7 in 11 starts since beating the Indians on July 31. The right-hander gave up nine hits and three walks in his final start of a wildly inconsistent season. In 21 outings, he had a 2.88 ERA. In 11 other starts, he lasted only a total of 48 innings and had a 13.88 ERA.
Alex Gordon hit a two-run homer, his 13th, in the sixth for Kansas City. Tony Abreu’s RBI single made it 11-3 in the seventh.
Matt LaPorta had a two-run double in the Indians’ seventh and Cord Phelps a bases-loaded RBI single in the eighth when another run scored on a wild pitch by Louis Coleman.
— Associated Press —