CLEVELAND — Trevor Bauer finally felt like himself Wednesday.

Bauer struck out a season-high 12 and held Kansas City to one run and three hits in 6 2/3 innings, leading the Cleveland Indians to a 5-3 win over the Royals.

The win was only the second since April 30 for Bauer, a stretch that has left him searching for answers the past couple of months.

“It’s been a struggle, but hopefully that’s all in the past now,” Bauer said.

Bauer (6-6) had the 23rd double-figure strikeout game of his career and his fourth this season. The right-hander didn’t allow a hit until rookie Humberto Arteaga singled with two outs in the fifth.

Bauer says some physical limitations have caused a dip in both the velocity and movement on his pitches.

“Everyone’s banged up throughout the year,” he said. “But I’m working through it. Feel good about where I’m at right now.”

Bauer matched a career high by throwing 127 pitches, the final hitting 97 mph on a walk to Cam Gallagher. He got a standing ovation and tipped his cap on the way to the dugout after being removed with two on in the seventh.

“From the first pitch of the game, he looked so much more like Trevor,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “All his pitches crisp, velocity. When you’ve got a guy who can pitch over 120 and that’s the hardest pitch of the day, that’s saying something.”

Jake Bauers and Tyler Naquin homered off Jakob Junis in the fourth. Bauers had gone 15 at-bats without a hit before his leadoff blast.

Jason Kipnis, Oscar Mercado and Jordan Luplow also drove in runs for Cleveland. Francisco Lindor was 3 for 4 and scored two runs.

Junis (4-7) allowed four runs in six innings and hasn’t won since May 30.

“It was all right,” Junis said. “It could have been better because I made a couple of mistakes. They took advantage of my fastball over the plate.”

Lucas Duda homered in the ninth for Kansas City off Nick Wittgren. Pinch-hitter Alex Gordon singled in a run before Wittgren struck out Billy Hamilton and Whit Merrfield to end the game. The Royals struck out 16 times.

Hunter Dozier, whose ninth-inning grand slam off closer Brad Hand gave the Royals an 8-6 win on Tuesday night, struck out in all four at-bats.

Bauer hit Gallagher with a 3-2 breaking pitch with one out in the third. He also hit Jorge Soler in the left shoulder to lead off the seventh.

Bauer was removed after Gallagher drew a two-out walk, but Nick Goody retired Billy Hamilton on a popup.

Arteaga hit a sharp ground ball under the glove of first baseman Bobby Bradley, who made a diving attempt in the fifth. After Gallagher singled to right, Hamilton’s bloop double scored Arteaga.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: C Salvador Perez (right elbow) has been cleared to resume catching on the side, but is still not permitted to throw a baseball. The six-time All-Star underwent Tommy John surgery on March 6 and is not expected to play this season.

Indians: RHP Corey Kluber will undergo tests on his broken right arm Thursday. He’ll begin playing catch if the results show the bone is still healing properly. … RHP Carlos Carrasco, who was diagnosed with a blood condition, has been playing catch with his teammates. “It’s not gonna hurt him in any way and they’ve encouraged him to have activity,” Francona said.

STAY AWAY

The Indians will have their first day off since June 13 on Thursday. Francona doesn’t want his relievers to show up at Progressive Field.

“Our bullpen really deserves a day away from the ballpark,” he joked. “If they come in to throw they should be released.”

HOMER HAPPY

Royals right-hander Homer Bailey is riding a three-start winning streak for the first time since 2014 and has a team-high seven victories.

Manager Ned Yost credits pitching coach Cal Eldred for helping Bailey bounce back from a 1-14 season with the Reds.

“When we talked about bringing Homer in, Cal said, `Look, I think I’ve seen some things on video that we can fix,” Yost said. “He started working with him when we got to spring training. Homer has been really good ever since.”

Bailey’s next start is scheduled for Saturday against Toronto.

UP NEXT

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy (3-3, 4.48 ERA) opens a four-game series Friday at Toronto. He pitched a season-high eight innings against Minnesota in a no-decision on June 22.

Indians: RHP Mike Clevinger (1-1, 2.70), who sprained his left ankle on June 17 at Texas, will be activated off the 10-day injured list to start Friday at Baltimore.

— Associated Press —

CLEVELAND — Brad Hand’s sublime season came to stunning end.

For once, the Royals mustered some late-game magic.

Hunter Dozier’s grand slam capped Kansas City’s five-run rally in the ninth inning off Hand, Cleveland’s previously perfect All-Star closer, as the Royals rallied for an 8-6 win over the Indians on Tuesday night.

Hand (4-3) had been 22 for 22 in save chances and is likely on his way to being selected to represent the Indians when they host the All-Star game at Progressive Field next month.

But the left-hander did not record an out against the Royals, who entered the ninth down 6-3 before storming back.

“It was a fun comeback,” said Royals manager Ned Yost. “It was an uplifting comeback. We always come to this place and it’s just a handful for us here in Cleveland — every time, I don’t know why. I’d much rather play them at our park, but it is always a handful. To battle back and take this one here was nice.”

The Royals had been 0-42 when trailing after eight innings before recording their biggest ninth-inning comeback in two years.

Nicky Lopez had an RBI infield single before Kansas City loaded the bases and Dozier connected on Hand’s first pitch — a slider — for his first career grand slam and 13th homer.

“Yeah,” said Dozier, downplaying his big moment. “That was really cool.”

Hand looked shaky from the outset, and was pulled after allowing five hits in just 13 pitches.

“He just proved he’s human,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “He had been pretty much flawless. It hurts to lose a game, but to expect somebody to never give up runs is not realistic.”

Hand offered no excuses, saying he wasn’t tired despite pitching five times in the past six days.

“I felt physically good,” he said. “I’d let him (Francona) know if something felt tired or whatever, but I felt good, just didn’t make some pitches. I got ahead, was trying to bury a few sliders and left them up. Sometimes when you throw too many strikes, it comes back to hurt you. Just got ahead of a few of those batters and made some mistakes.”

Kevin McCarthy (2-1) pitched the eighth and stumbled into a win, and Ian Kennedy worked the ninth for his 10th save, striking out Carlos Santana with a runner at second for the final out.

Tyler Naquin hit a two-run homer and Santana, Roberto Perez and Mike Freeman had solo shots for the Indians, who were three outs away from their fifth straight win before Hand imploded.

POWER COMPANY

One bright spot for the Indians was getting homers from their Nos. 7, 8 and 9 homers. Cleveland’s offense has been steadily improving and a big reason for the club’s surge in June.

“We did some good things offensively,” Francona said. “It’s just one of those nights where they came back and snatched one from us. We’ve done that before. It hurts.”

CLEVELAND ROCKED

The Royals snapped a three-game losing streak at Progressive Field and improved to just 8-23 in Cleveland since 2016.

START AND STOP

Indians starter Shane Bieber stayed around for 5 2/3 innings, and was in position to get the win when he left, but was unsatisfied with his performance.

“It was kind of one of those days where maybe my stuff was OK, but it felt like I was out of sync and yanking some sliders and some curveballs and not as good of command as usual,” he said. “Even then, I had a lot of opportunities to go deeper in the game.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: LHP Eric Skoglund’s 80-game suspension for testing positive for banned performance-enhancing drugs ends Wednesday. Skoglund was in the mix to make Kansas City’s rotation before the ban. He’s made three minor league rehab starts and will be added to the 40-man roster.

Indians: RHP Mike Clevinger will be activated Friday to start the series opener in Baltimore. Clevinger has been sidelined with a sprained ankle sustained in his first start after returning from an eight-week stint on the injured list with a strained back muscle. Francona said Clevinger’s bullpen session was intense. “Looked like Game 7 of the World Series,” he said. … OF Jake Bauers felt better after rolling his left ankle during batting practice Monday. Bauers was initially scared he was more seriously injured. “He said he almost kind of blacked out,” said Francona, who was surprised to learn Bauers had never sprained an ankle. “I could do that sleeping,” he cracked.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Jakob Junis (4-6, 5.18 ERA) makes his seventh career start against the Indians. He pitched seven innings of two-hit ball against Cleveland on Sept. 3.

Indians: RHP Trevor Bauer (5-6, 3.69) is winless in his last eight starts at home. He allowed a season-high tying 10 hits in his last start on June 21 at Detroit.

— Associated Press —

CLEVELAND — Jason Kipnis homered leading off the 10th inning as the Cleveland Indians continued their impressive June with a 3-2 win over the Kansas City Royals on Monday night in a game delayed 2 hours, 23 minutes by rain.

Kipnis connected on a 1-0 pitch from Wily Peralta (2-4), driving it into the right-field seats for his sixth homer. As the ball sailed into the stands, Kipnis dropped his bat, circled the bases and made a nifty spin move as neared the plate to avoid being splashed by teammate Francisco Lindor, who tried to soak him with a Gatorade cooler.

The Indians have won 14 of 19 and improved to an AL-best 15-6 this month.

Kipnis has been a big part of Cleveland’s early-summer surge. He’s batting .471 with four homers and 14 RBI in his past nine games.

Brad Hand (4-2) worked a perfect 10th as Indians manager Terry Francona was forced to use six pitchers because of the weather.

Indians rookie slugger Bobby Bradley, who delivered an RBI double in his first major league at-bat after being recalled from Triple-A Columbus on Sunday, put the Indians up in the sixth with a run-scoring double.

Whit Merrifield homered for the Royals, who sit at the bottom of the AL Central.

With the score tied 1-1 in sixth, Jose Ramirez walked with two outs before Bradley hit a liner that split center fielder Billy Hamilton and right fielder Merrifield, who cut the ball off with a soggy, sliding stop near the warning track.

But Kansas City’s relay was not in time to get Ramirez, and Bradley, who was leading the International League in homers, celebrated at second by raising his arms and motioning toward his teammates in the dugout.

Blanked for three innings before the rain stoppage by Royals starter Brad Keller, the Indians tied it 1-all shortly after play resumed on back-to-back doubles by Santana and Ramirez, who is again showing signs of emerging from a baffling batting slump.

Ramirez has hiked his average up to .217, a season-high but 100 points before his .317 clip in 2017.

Indians starter Adam Plutko didn’t give up a hit until the fourth, when Whit Merrifield led off with his 11th homer, a shot to left that barely crept over the 19-foot-high wall. Plutko got through the rest of the inning unscathed before the rain intensified and caused the lengthy delay.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: 2B Adalberto Mondesi (right groin strain) is expected to come off the 10-day injured list when eligible on June 29. He was put on the shelf following Kansas City’s June 18 game in Seattle.

Indians: OF Jake Bauers rolled his left ankle shagging flies during pregame batting practice and was scratched 90 minutes before the first pitch. Bauers took pregame swings in the cage, but the Indians decided to rest him. … RHP Mike Clevinger will throw a “full-fledged bullpen” Tuesday, a final hurdle before he’s activated from the injured list with a sprained ankle. Clevinger is scheduled to start Friday at Baltimore.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Glenn Sparkman (2-3, 3.62 ERA) allowed one run — a homer — and tossed a career-high seven innings in his previous start against Minnesota.

Indians: RHP Shane Bieber (6-3, 3.86 ERA) has won both career starts against Kansas City despite a 6.35 ERA. He’s 8-2 in 14 starts against AL Central opponents.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In the span of a week, Hunter Dozier went from the injured list to the delivery room to the star role in the Kansas City Royals’ 6-1 win over the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins.

The young slugger hit a three-run shot during a five-run third inning Sunday, made a couple of stellar defensive plays at third base and gave Homer Bailey and the Kansas City bullpen all the offense they needed against the Twins on a soggy, overcast afternoon at Kauffman Stadium.

“I knew my timing was going to be off,” said Dozier, who had been sidelined the last three weeks with an oblique strain. “I felt better today. Hopefully keep getting better and better.”

Dozier returned to the team on Friday after spending the previous night in the hospital, where his wife gave birth to the couple’s second child. And while he struggled at the plate in his first couple of games back, that timing seemed to have returned against Minnesota.

“They struck him out with a slider the first time up, and the second time they tried the same ploy,” Royals manager Ned Yost said, “and it didn’t work.”

Bailey (7-6) only made one significant mistake, leaving a pitch over the plate that Eddie Rosario steered inside the right-field foul pole. Otherwise, the revitalized right-hander followed back-to-back scoreless starts against Detroit and Seattle by giving up five hits and a walk.

The Royals’ bullpen shut down the Twins the rest of the way. Kevin McCarthy left the bases loaded in the seventh, then recorded the next six outs to earn his first career save.

“I’d hoped it would come a little sooner,” he said, “but I’m glad I got it.”

Alex Gordon added two RBI and Nicky Lopez also drove in a run for the Royals, who did most of their damage against Michael Pineda (4-4) in the third inning. Pineda wound up lasting five, allowing eight hits while taking his first loss since May 5 at Yankee Stadium.

He didn’t get much support as the Twins stranded 11 runners on base.

“Bailey threw the ball well. He had to work for everything, but he made good pitches when he had to,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “When you get that big hit or a couple of big hits, it can give you a lift. It’s tough to get that first big hit with people on base, and we didn’t get that.”

With rain in the forecast, Bailey and Pineda engaged in a tidy pitchers’ duel through the first couple innings. But that ended abruptly when Pineda took the mound in the third.

After retiring Martin Maldonado, the big right-hander gave up a base hit to Billy Hamilton — the first of what would become five straight. And they came in quite the variety: Whit Merrifield delivered on a hit-and-run, Lopez had a bunt single and Gordon doubled down the right-field line.

The big blow came from Dozier, though. His three-run shot soared over the visiting bullpen in left field, giving Kansas City a 5-0 lead and the youngster another boost in his All-Star bid.

Dozier is among the three AL finalists at third base in voting that begins Wednesday.

“In the third inning they got some soft contact. I hang one pitch, my slider and they hit a big homer,” Pineda said. “That cost me the game. I just tried to compete.”

Bailey’s streak of 16 2/3 scoreless innings finally ended when Rosario cracked his 20th homer of the year leading off the fourth inning. But Bailey got a modicum of revenge in the sixth, when he struck out Rosario after a 14-pitch at-bat to conclude his afternoon.

STATS AND STREAKS

The Twins’ Jorge Polanco extended his 36-game on-base streak with a single in the seventh. That is tied for fifth-longest in club history. … Luis Arraez had his first four-hit game for Minnesota. … Bailey has not allowed more than three runs in a start since April 30.

NEGRO LEAGUES SALUTE

The Royals wore uniforms of the 1942 Kansas City Monarchs and the Twins dressed as the St. Paul Gophers from 1908 for their throwback day at the K. It also was “Dressed to the Nines” day at the park, and many fans came dressed in suits, dresses and vintage clothing.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins OF Byron Buxton hit before the game to test his right wrist, and manager Rocco Baldelli said it’s possible he could play Tuesday. “We have to make sure he’s 100 percent before we activate him for a game,” Baldelli said. “We’re very close to making a decision.” … RHP Jose Berrios should make his next start despite leaving Saturday’s game with a blister, Baldelli said.

UP NEXT

The Royals head to Cleveland on Monday night to open a three-game set with RHP Brad Keller (3-9, 4.45 ERA) on the hill. The Twins are off Monday before starting a three-game set against Tampa Bay.

— Associated Press —