CLEVELAND (AP) — Danny Salazar pitched like an ace Friday night.

He allowed one run and struck out nine in eight innings, and the Cleveland Indians defeated the Kansas City Royals 6-1.

Salazar (6-3) held Kansas City to three hits and was in command, other than giving up Drew Butera’s leadoff homer in the third. As it turned out, that mistake woke up the pitcher.

“That made me mad,” he said. “I tried to throw a slider there. I just put it there instead of throwing it down in the zone. After that I started being aggressive.”

Yan Gomes homered in the second and Tyler Naquin hit his first major league home run in the seventh for Cleveland, which has won four of five over the defending World Series champions and trails the AL Central-leading Royals by a half-game.

Salazar’s five walks drove his pitch count to 113. Four of the free passes, including an intentional walk in the first, came in the first three innings.

“Even though he did have some walks his stuff was so good,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “His last pitch was 97 or 98 (mph). When you’re throwing that hard and he starts throwing that breaking ball and changeup, that’s a lot of good weapons.”

Alcides Escobar, who singled in the sixth for his 1,000th career hit, was impressed with Salazar after the right-hander beat Kansas City for the second time this season, allowing one run in 16 innings.

“This guy is always very good against us, but his stuff was so nice tonight,” Escobar said. “His fastball was over 95 and the splitter was painting the outside. He did a real, real good job.”

Salazar has allowed two runs or less in nine of his 11 starts.

Francisco Lindor’s RBI single in the third off Edinson Volquez (5-5) broke a 1-all tie and sparked a three-run rally. Mike Napoli followed with an RBI double while the third run scored on Volquez’s wild pitch.

Salazar got a boost from his defense in the seventh when right fielder Lonnie Chisenhall fielded Cheslor Cuthbert’s hit off the wall and threw him out at second trying for a double.

“I love it,” Salazar said. “I was just jumping there.”

Gomes, who has seven home runs, is batting only .174 but his 27 hits have produced 27 RBI.

Butera, filling in behind the plate for the injured Salvador Perez, hit his second home run of the series that briefly tied the game.

Volquez allowed five runs in 6 1/3 innings for Kansas City, which is also playing without third baseman Mike Moustakas and left fielder Alex Gordon because of injuries.

BIG MOMENT

Naquin, a left-handed hitter, homered over the 19-foot high wall in left field.

“Awesome, man,” Naquin said. “Awesome. A major-league home run. No words that could describe that. I knew when I hit it that I hit it well enough to get it out. I always run hard. I’m always going to run hard. You never know.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: Manager Ned Yost expects Perez (bruised left thigh) to be behind the plate this weekend. Perez hasn’t played since being injured in a May 28 collision with Cuthbert.

Indians: C Roberto Perez (broken right thumb) is continuing his rehab at the Indians’ training complex in Goodyear, Arizona. Perez was injured on April 30 and is on the 60-day DL.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Ian Kennedy (4-3) threw seven shutout innings against the Indians at Progressive Field in a 7-0 win on May 7.

Indians: RHP Josh Tomlin (7-1) looks to bounce back from his first loss of the season. He allowed eight runs (four earned) against Texas on Monday.

— Associated Press —

CLEVELAND (AP) — Francisco Lindor broke out of his slump at the perfect time for the Cleveland Indians.

After tying the game with a ninth-inning triple, Lindor scored the winning run on a head-first dive across home plate on Mike Napoli’s sacrifice fly and the Indians rallied for a 5-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night.

Lindor was in a 2-for-19 skid when he came to bat in the ninth, but delivered when it mattered.

“I was just thinking, `Make hard contact,” he said, “And I hit it and I was like, `Yes, I did it.’ That’s what I wanted to do.”

Carlos Santana started the rally with a single off Joakim Soria (2-2) and took second on right fielder Paulo Orlando’s fielding error. After Jason Kipnis’ sacrifice, Lindor hit a line drive to right.

Orlando attempted a diving catch but the ball rolled to the wall. Pinch-runner Michael Martinez scored and Lindor slid headfirst into third.

“I didn’t come out running hard out of the box,” Lindor said. “I messed up. That’s a mistake by me, but as soon as I saw the ball drop, I was running until they tell you to stop. I was thinking three all the way.”

Napoli’s fly ball to left was deep enough to score Lindor, who dived into home plate to give Cleveland its second straight walkoff win.

“It means we can do it,” said Lindor, who threw his helmet high in the air after scoring. “We know we can do it, but it’s always fun, it’s always good to have moments like this.”

Tommy Hunter (2-1) pitched 1 2/3 innings for the win.

Soria filled in as closer for Wade Davis, who had pitched three of the last four days and two straight.

“Just didn’t want to use him three days in a row,” manager Ned Yost said of Davis. “It was one of those things where he needed a day.”

Drew Butera and Cheslor Cuthbert homered for the Royals, who appeared on the verge of winning for the ninth time in 10 games. Jarrod Dyson’s fourth-inning single broke a 3-all tie.

Yordano Ventura allowed two runs in seven innings.

Carlos Carrasco allowed three runs over five innings in his first appearance since April 24, when he strained his left hamstring covering first base. He was activated from the 15-day disabled list before the game.

“I thought he threw the ball well,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “He made a couple costly mistakes. It’ll be nice to have him back. He’s a big, big guy for us.”

Lonnie Chisenhall, Jose Ramirez and Tyler Naquin also drove in runs for Cleveland.

CAVS FAN

Royals SS Alcides Escobar has made it clear he’s rooting for the Cleveland Cavaliers to defeat the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals. Escobar wore a gold Cavaliers No. 2 Kyrie Irving jersey during batting practice Thursday.

“I like him,” Escobar said. “He’s doing good. That’s my second favorite player. LeBron (James) and him.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: 3B Mike Moustakas had successful surgery on his right knee to repair a torn ACL on Thursday. … C Salvador Perez could pinch hit this weekend. He took part in running and throwing drills Thursday.

Indians: OF Michael Brantley (inflammation in right shoulder) could start hitting soft toss Friday. He’s been taking swings off a tee the last several days. Brantley is on the disabled list for the second time this season.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Edinson Volquez has lost his last three starts to the

Indians. He’s 2-5 in eight career starts against Cleveland. His 8.25 ERA is his worst against any team he’s faced.

Indians: RHP Danny Salazar will make his 11th career start against the Royals. He pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings against them at Progressive Field on May 6.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals will spend the next 11 days on the road after completing their best homestand in nearly three decades.

Danny Duffy pitched six effective innings and rookie Whit Merrifield had two hits and scored a run as the Kansas City Royals beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-3 on Wednesday night to complete a 6-0 homestand.

The last time the Royals had a homestand of 6-0 or better was June 2-8, 1988, when they went 7-0.

“It feels good. I wish we could stay here another week,” said Jarrod Dyson, who had a sacrifice bunt, stole a base, walked, scored a run and picked up his sixth outfield assist.

Duffy (1-0) allowed three runs and seven hits, while walking none and striking out six over six innings, his longest outing since moving into the rotation on May 15.

“It’s nice, you have to take care of business at home,” Duffy said. “We didn’t lose in this series at home. It’s huge.”

Duffy was efficient, throwing only 40 pitches in the first four innings and 75 total. Early in his career he would get his pitch count up in a hurry.

“The only way to escape your past is be better than your past,” Duffy said. “Everybody grows in this game.”

Royals relievers Joakim Soria, Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis held the Rays scoreless over the final three innings. Davis picked up his 16th save in 17 chances, but not before walking one, giving up a hit and uncorking a wild pitch.

Merrifield has hit in his first 11 career starts, which is a Royals’ record. He doubled in the first and scored on Lorenzo Cain’s single. He has scored a run in nine consecutive games, which matches a Royals rookie record set by Mike Aviles in 2008. Merrifield singled in the fourth for his seventh multihit game.

Chris Archer (3-7) gave up five runs, four earned, eight hits and two walks over six innings.

“We were down from the start really quick,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Archer came out and it looked like his thought was to pound the strike zone and their thought was not to take anything.”

The Royals’ offense included Cain going 3 for 4 with an RBI and scoring two runs. Cain has 24 RBI in 20 games after driving in just 10 in his first 30. Kendrys Morales had two hits and drove in a run.

Curt Casali homered for the Rays, while Mikie Mahtook snapped a career-worst 0-for-19 skid with a third-inning double and scored on a single by Brad Miller.

“Baseball players are dumb sometimes,” Casali said. “We try to over-swing. That’s when we get into fits and stuff doesn’t go the way we want it to. I’m not trying to hit home runs. I’m trying to hit the ball as hard as I can and put as quick of a swing as I can. Fortunately that was a good one.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Rays: RHP Brad Boxberger was placed on the DL with a left oblique strain. He came off the DL on Monday, threw 16 pitches Tuesday and returned to the DL. … 2B Steve Pearce was held out of the lineup with right elbow tendinitis.

Royals: 3B Mike Moustakas is scheduled to undergo season-ending right knee surgery Thursday to repair a torn ACL. … OF Brett Eibner went on the DL with a left ankle sprain. … C Salvador Perez, who has missed four games with a bruised thigh, took batting practice and did some light running. He could return sometime during the four-game series at Cleveland.

ROSTER MOVES

The Rays recalled INF Tim Beckham from Triple-A Durham for his second stint. He struck out 23 times in 54 at-bats in his first stint. … The Royals recalled RHP Peter Moylan and OF Reymond Fuentes, who started in right in the season opener, from Triple-A Omaha. RHP Dillon Gee, who started and won Tuesday, was optioned to Omaha.

UP NEXT

Rays: LHP Matt Moore is 1-0 with a 3.24 ERA in three career appearances against the Twins. He snapped a six-game winless streak when he beat the Mets in his previous start.

Royals: Royals RHP Yordano Ventura, who starts Thursday at Cleveland, has a 7.16 ERA in his past six starts, allowing 37 hits, including seven home runs, and walking 19 in 32 2/3 innings.

— Associated Press —