KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Mike Clevinger had no apprehension turning over a one-run lead in the sixth inning to the Cleveland bullpen.

Clevinger and four relievers combined for a one-hitter as the Indians beat the Kansas City Royals 1-0 Sunday.

Carlos Santana had three hits, including an RBI single in the fifth that followed Yan Gomes’ double for the game’s only run.

“We’re not hitting on all cylinders,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “But it’s a heck of a lot better to win 1-0 instead of losing 1-0.”

Clevinger (1-0), making his first start in place of the injured Corey Kluber, gave up a double to Salvador Perez with one out in the fourth for the Royals’ hit. He walked four and struck out five in 5 2/3 innings, and was removed after throwing 91 pitches.

“A lot of worry,” Clevinger said and laughed about the Indians’ bullpen holding the lead. “Once the ball is handed off to the bullpen, I knew we were in safe hands.”

Boone Logan came on and walked Eric Hosmer, before Bryan Shaw replaced him and struck out all four batters he faced. Andrew Miller pitched a perfect eighth — keeping his ERA at 0.00 over 15 2/3 innings this season — and Cody Allen got the last three outs, getting Brandon Moss on a fly ball with two runners on for his ninth save in nine chances.

“I made it a little interesting in the ninth,” Allen said.

The last time the Royals were limited to one hit was Sept. 25, 2015 against the Indians.

Danny Duffy (2-3), who had given up 12 runs and 19 hits over 9 2/3 innings in losing his previous two starts, held the Indians to one run and six hits over 6 2/3 innings.

“Right now we’re going through a scuffle,” Duffy said. “We’re going through a patch. It stinks in the moment, but we know we’re the only ones who can pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off.”

Perez’s double in the fourth followed a walk to Eric Hosmer, but Clevinger struck out Jorge Soler and Jorge Bonifacio to strand the runners.

“Obviously, the intensity is a little higher there,” Clevinger said. “But don’t get out of myself, stay within myself, stay with what I can control, what I can do.”

In the ninth, Allen hit Lorenzo Cain with a pitch to open the inning. He then got Hosmer on a fly ball and struck out Perez before walking Jorge Soler. Pinch hitter Moss flied out to center to end the game.

“We’re not scoring,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “We’re striking out way too many times.”

BEES REMOVED

A swarm of bees were discovered in Kauffman Stadium upper deck Sunday morning. Jeff Diekmann, a member of the tarp crew and a beekeeper, helped remove the bees unharmed.

BACKSTAGE PASSES

Royals players Hosmer, Moss, Travis Wood, Whit Merrifield and Drew Butera attended a Garth Brooks concert Saturday night in Kanas City. They had backstage passes and met the country singer crooner after the show.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Indians: LF Michael Brantley left in the fourth inning with a right ankle sprain. Lonnie Chisenhall replaced him. Francona said it is “not a dreaded high ankle sprain” and is optimistic Brantley will not miss more than a day or two.

UP NEXT

Indians: RHP Trevor Bauer, who is 1-2 with a 7.31 ERA in three road starts, is the probable Monday at Toronto.

Royals: RHP Nathan Karns will start Tuesday at Tampa Bay in the opener of a four-game series.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Derek Holland hitched up the heavy, gaudy wrestling belt strapped around his waist and flashed the kind of smile any world champion would wear after having their arm raised in the ring.

It was fitting, too, the way the White Sox left-hander pinned down the Royals on Thursday.

Holland scattered three hits while pitching into the seventh inning, and Jose Abreu and Matt Davidson went deep, helping Chicago to a 8-3 win over Kansas City and a split of their four-game set.

“It’s about time I earned this,” Holland said of the belt, which is awarded by Melky Cabrera and a bunch of other White Sox teammates to the game MVP. “It’s hard to get it.”

Holland (3-2) has deserved it on several occasions: He’s allowed two earned runs or fewer in his first six outings this season. In this one, he struck out seven with only one walk before exiting with two outs in the seventh, and only one of the two runs charged to him was earned.

“Listen, he came to spring training and everyone was asking what we expected of him,” White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. “He’s doing exactly what we expected of him.”

Meanwhile, Royals counterpart Ian Kennedy was going through a double-dose of misfortune.

First, the right-hander surrendered five runs on six hits and a walk in his first truly shaky start of the season. Then, Kennedy (0-3) was forced to leave with one out in the fifth after feeling a pinch in his right hamstring — an MRI exam during the game revealed a Grade 1 strain.

“Walking I don’t feel it, just the pitching motion and doing everything else,” Kennedy said. “It’s one of those things we’ll see how it feels tomorrow. It stinks.”

Asked whether Kennedy was headed for the disabled list, manager Ned Yost replied: “”I don’t know. We’re discussing our options right now.”

Kennedy struggled from the onset, giving up a one-out single to Cabrera and a 427-foot homer to Abreu in the first. Davidson added his solo shot into the fountains in left in the second.

In the fourth, Kennedy was victimized by an error, hit a batter and committed a balk before giving up back-to-back hits. He also walked a batter as the White Sox pushed two more runs across.

“I was missing my spots. I was all over the place,” Kennedy said. “It was just a bad day.”

Five runs were more than enough for Holland, who retired the first 10 batters he faced.

Mixing a fastball and sinker, Holland kept the punchless Royals guessing all the afternoon, silencing a Kauffman Stadium crowd filled with kids out for “School Day at the K.” He only allowed two doubles before the seventh inning, when the Royals finally managed to coax two runs across.

The White Sox had already tacked on two of their own in the seventh off the Kansas City bullpen.

STATS AND STREAKS

Abreu also homered in his final at-bat Wednesday night. … White Sox reliever Anthony Swarzak has retired 13 straight and 31 of his last 32 batters. … Kennedy has received five runs of support in his six starts. … The Royals have committed eight errors in their last 12 games. They had just one in the first 15 games. … The Royals lost a challenge for the first time in seven tries this season.

RECORD-SETTING WELT

Royals OF Alex Gordon was plunked by a pitch with one out in the seventh, the 79th time he’s been hit by a pitch. That set a franchise record that Gordon had shared with Mike Macfarlane.

SCRATCH AND SNIFF

White Sox 3B Todd Frazier was a late scratch due to back stiffness, though the timing of the move — right before first pitch — had some on social media sniffing about trades. Frazier has been linked to the Red Sox, who are in desperate need of help at the position.

TRAINER’S ROOM

White Sox RHP Nate Jones went on the 10-day DL with elbow inflammation and LHP David Holmberg’s contract was purchased from Triple-A Charlotte before the game. GM Rick Hahn said he believes Jones will be able to pitch again in a couple weeks. To make roster space for Holmberg, the White Sox transferred LHP Carlos Rodon to the 60-day DL. He’s been out with left biceps bursitis.

UP NEXT

White Sox: RHP Miguel Gonzalez starts the series opener at Baltimore on Friday night.

Royals: RHP Jason Hammel gets the nod to open a three-game set with Cleveland on Friday night.

— Associated Press —