CLEVELAND (AP) — When reality set in, the ovation steadily grew as the Cleveland Indians emerged from their dugout.

With the scoreboard showing a loss and the Kansas City Royals shaking hands and high-fiving each other nearby, the Indians tipped their caps to salute fans who came hoping to see more late-inning magic and a record streak continue.

You can’t win `em all.

Cleveland’s historic run is over.

The Indians, who captured America’s attention during a dominating three-week run, had their AL-record winning streak stopped at 22 straight on Friday night with a 4-3 loss to the Royals, who became the first team to conquer the defending league champions since Aug. 23.

Jason Vargas (16-10) pitched into the sixth and Brandon Moss homered off Trevor Bauer (16-9) as the Royals, who were beaten five times by Cleveland over the past few weeks, ended baseball’s longest win streak in 101 years.

But when it ended, there was a celebration as a crowd of 34,025 fans saluted a team that took them on an improbable ride they are unlikely to see again in their lifetimes.

“They’ve been so supportive,” said Indians manager Terry Francona, who led his team out of the dugout to return the love to the crowd. “The atmosphere around here is incredible and I think our players wanted to show their appreciation. It’s by no means the last game of the year or anything like that, it’s just been pretty incredible how they’ve reacted and we just wanted to show our appreciation because we don’t take it for granted.

“I don’t think anything is over.”

The Indians set a new league mark and came within four of matching the overall record held by the 1916 New York Giants, a 26-game string that became the subject of scrutiny because it included a tie in the middle.

But despite the loss, Cleveland’s magic number for clinching the AL Central dropped to two after second-place Minnesota was beaten by Toronto.

Following a magical, walk-off win in extra innings on Thursday night, the Indians couldn’t muster another late rally.

When Francisco Lindor, one of the stars in Cleveland’s 3-2 win on Thursday, struck out with a runner on first to end it, the crowd experienced the slightest moment of disappointment before appreciating what they had just seen. And as they stood and cheered, the Indians clapped in return.

“It’s been great,” Bauer said. “They came out, they supported us. The atmosphere last night and tonight was spectacular. Shoot, even tonight after the loss, everyone was standing and stuff like that. It was a pretty cool moment.”

The Indians, who are already assured a playoff spot, not only broke the previous AL record of 20 held by the 2002 “Moneyball” Oakland Athletics, but they served notice that they well could be the team to beat in the postseason as they attempt to get back to the World Series and perhaps end their 68-year title drought after the Chicago Cubs halted their 108-year dry spell at Cleveland’s expense in 2016.

Jose Ramirez, who has forced his way into the MVP conversation, hit a two-run homer and the Indians took a 3-1 lead before the Royals scored a run in the fourth, fifth and sixth.

With one last chance in the ninth, the Indians put the tying run on base before Royals reliever Mike Minor struck out the side for his first pro save, fanning Lindor on a pitch in the dirt.

That touched off a wild celebration, which shook Progressive Field and gave Cleveland fans a chance to get ready for bigger games to come.

“I think it was appropriate. We haven’t lost a game in three weeks. We played a good game,” Cleveland outfielder Jay Bruce said. “It wasn’t like we got just blown out or anything. I think (it was important) to have a bit of a light-hearted attitude about it all, and not take it too hard, obviously, because we’re in a great position.

“We just did something that, depending on who you ask, one or no teams have ever done. So, it’s one of those deals where we understand what the situation is, and this is not something that would happen very often.”

For the better part of a month, the Indians had no equals.

“What they did over there was amazing. I mean, it’s utterly amazing,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “It’s just unfathomable for me that you can go three weeks without losing a game. I mean, it was a tremendous accomplishment.”

“I mean, we’ve got a runner on first, two outs, two strikes on Lindor, and I told Jirsch (third base coach Mike Jirschele), `man, we’ve been here before.’ Luckily we got through it tonight,” he said.

On their way to making AL history, the Indians romped through the league like no team has before.

They outscored opponents 145-41, led in all but 12 of 207 innings, hit 42 homers and captured the attention of baseball fans fixated on the hot-then-cold Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros and seeing how far Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge could hit homers.

Francona kept his players focused throughout the streak, mindful that it could become too big. They’ll likely wrap it up their division this weekend and can start looking ahead to a postseason where the only streak that will matter is winning the last game they play.

“To me, it’s just kind of a jumping off point,” Francona said. “Where do we go from here? It’s up. Common sense said you’re going to lose a game. It was a lot of fun. We’ll show up tomorrow and my guess is we’ll have real good energy and see if we can beat the Royals.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: C Salvador Perez sat out with a pulled muscle in his side and is considered day-to-day. He was injured taking a swing Thursday. … RHP Joakim Soria is expected to join the team Saturday after returning to Arizona for the birth of his son.

Indians: OF Lonnie Chisenhall had his calf re-examined by the medical staff after leaving with tightness on Thursday night. The club is hoping the injury is nothing serious after Chisenhall missed more than two months with a calf injury. … OF Jason Kipnis is expected to play five innings in center field on Sunday when he’s activated after his second DL stint with a calf injury. The Indians are lacking outfield depth following injuries to Chisenhall and rookie Bradley Zimmer (broken hand).

UP NEXT

RHP Carlos Carrasco tries to get the Indians to their ninth division title since 1995 on Saturday, when he faces Royals RHP Jason Hammel.

— Associated Press —

CLEVELAND (AP) — On a winning streak that just won’t stop, the Cleveland Indians have posted shutouts, blowouts and routine wins.

All that was missing were a walk-off victory and extra innings.

“Check those two off,” closer Cody Allen said. “We’re checking all the boxes.”

And check this out: 22 in a row.

Jay Bruce hit an RBI double in the 10th inning — after Francisco Lindor tied it with a clutch double in the ninth — as the Indians rallied for their 22nd straight win to extend their AL record, beating the Kansas City Royals 3-2 on Thursday night.

Cleveland moved within four wins of matching the 1916 New York Giants for the longest streak in major league history.

A three-week romp through the league finally had some real drama to keep baseball’s longest winning streak in 101 years intact.

Even before the rally, Allen looked at his teammates in the bullpen and knew something special was about to happen.

“In the ninth, we were saying, ‘We’re gonna walk them off,'” said Allen (3-6). “We thought we were going to walk them off right there. You win enough games in a lot of different ways, you see what those guys are capable of.”

Allen and the Indians only had to wait a little longer until Jose Ramirez scored the winning run.

With the crowd signing “Jose, Jose, Jose,” Ramirez led off the 10th with a hard hit into right-center off Brandon Maurer (2-2) that he turned into a double with a head-first slide. After Edwin Encarnacion walked, Bruce, the recent arrival who hit a three-run homer in win No. 21 on Wednesday, ripped a 2-0 pitch into the right-field corner.

As Progressive Field shook like it usually does in October, Bruce reached second base and was quickly mobbed by his teammates, who doused him with ice water and talcum powder while tearing the front of his jersey.

“Kids these days are throwing everything,” Bruce said with a laugh. “You never know what you’re going to get hit with out there. It’s my first jersey rip off, for sure. They didn’t get it all, though.”

These Indians aren’t stopping for anything.

Down to their last strike in the ninth, the Indians rallied to tie it at 2 off closer Kelvin Herrera, with Lindor delivering his shot off the left-field wall, just above the leap of four-time Gold Glove winner Alex Gordon, to score pinch-runner Erik Gonzalez from first.

“The ball actually hit off the top of my glove,” Gordon said. “It was in a perfect spot where you had to decide whether to play it off the wall or go for it. I thought if I played it off the wall, he scores anyway, so I had to go for it.”

Lindor’s ball caromed off the wall and rolled slowly across the grass in left field, and 30,874 fans who have watched the Indians overpower teams for the last three weeks soon saw the AL Central leaders pull off their most dramatic win this season.

The Indians entered the day tied with the 1935 Chicago Cubs for the second-longest streak, and now only trail those ’16 Giants, who won 26 in a row — all at home.

The Giants won 12 straight, played a 1-1 tie, and then won 14 in a row. But because the tied game was replayed from the start the next day, it didn’t technically count and therefore didn’t stop New York’s streak.

Unlike many of Cleveland’s game’s over the past three weeks, this one required a little late-innings work by the Indians, who have outscored their opponents 142-37 during this unimaginable run that has put them on the cusp of another Central title and possibly finish with the league’s best record.

“This doesn’t really happen anywhere,” said Bruce, who came over in an Aug. 9 trade from the New York Mets. “You can hit that lull in September and even though you’ve got all but wrapped up the division, you know, the games can get long. They can get boring. They can get monotonous. We have a lot of things going for us that make it not like that.

“People are going crazy. It’s a playoff atmosphere. We’re trying to get the best record in baseball.”

If not for Lindor, the Indians’ streak would have stopped.

With one out in the ninth, pinch-hitter Tyler Naquin singled to left off Herrera, who then got rookie Francisco Mejia to bounce into a force. But Lindor, the blossoming superstar shortstop who has been Cleveland’s best hitter throughout the streak, came through with his double.

“For a second, when I hit it, I was like, ‘Oh no, I went the other way. I hit it to the wrong guy,'” Lindor said. “Then, I saw it hit the wall and the emotions were pretty high. Just seeing the whole entire crowd was fun, and then seeing your teammates screaming on the top step of the dugout is pretty special.”

So is this team.

MILLER TIME

On top of getting another win, the Indians also got top reliever Andrew Miller back. The All-Star came in to a rousing ovation in the seventh, and gave up a pair of bloop singles around a strikeout before getting an inning-ending double play.

It was his first appearance since Aug. 21, when Miller’s knee tendinitis flared up during an appearance against Boston and he went on the DL for the second time.

“I thought he looked much, much closer to Andrew than the last time,” said manager Terry Francona, who will closely monitor Miller. “He’s going to need some outings, but that was a really good first step for him.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy (sore elbow) threw a side session and could start Sunday’s series finale. He’s been on the disabled list since Aug. 26. Duffy is 8-8 with a 3.78 ERA in 21 starts.

Indians: All-Star OF Michael Brantley still isn’t running and the club still doesn’t have a timetable for his return from an ankle injury. Brantley was having a strong comeback season after playing in just 11 games in 2016 following shoulder surgeries.

UP NEXT

Trevor Bauer, tied for the league lead in wins, goes for his 17th and Cleveland’s 23rd in a row against Jason Vargas.

— Associated Press —