CLEVELAND (AP) — Terry Francona heard the boos from the home crowd, and the Cleveland Indians manager didn’t mind one bit.

Francona pulled Corey Kluber two outs short of a complete game in Cleveland’s 4-1 win over Kansas City on Sunday. The crowd of 16,991 wanted to see Kluber, who allowed four hits and struck out 10 in 8 1/3 innings, finish the game, and the fans let Francona know they didn’t agree with his decision.

“I don’t blame them,” Francona said. “If I was managing with my heart, I’d have left him in there, too.”

Kluber (8-6) took a three-hitter into the ninth before Eric Hosmer started the inning with a double. The right-hander, who gave up a solo homer to Mike Moustakas in the fifth, was removed after striking out Salvador Perez.

Kluber also heard the boos and used the opportunity to take a good-natured jab at his manager.

“Kip (second baseman Jason Kipnis) was giving him a hard time, too,” he said. “It was pretty funny, I guess.”

Cody Allen recorded the final two outs for his ninth save, and Carlos Santana and Yan Gomes homered in a three-run second inning.

Kluber, who walked one, retired the first seven hitters before Jarrod Dyson’s infield single with one out in the third. Lorenzo Cain also had an infield hit in the sixth.

Kluber has been Cleveland’s ace all season. He has four double-figure strikeout games.

“It sure is nice, man, to write his name in there,” Francona said. “He has weapons, he has poise, and he competes.” Francona said.

Kluber is working to stay on an even keel throughout the season.

“I’m trying to be as consistent as I can from start to start,” Kluber said. “I try to avoid the downs as much as possible and keep the good stuff rolling.”

Kluber rarely shows any emotion on the mound, but Francona thinks appearances can be misleading.

“He’s very locked in,” Francona said. “Maybe his demeanor belies the real fire that’s in there. He gets after it.”

Even Moustakas, who walked in the seventh and is 7 for 18 against Kluber, was impressed.

“Everything he was throwing was nasty,” he said.

A lack of run support has kept Kluber from having a better record. He allowed three runs over 20 2/3 innings in his last three starts, but lost twice. Kluber held the Dodgers to one run in 6 2/3 innings on Monday, but was the losing pitcher in a 1-0 defeat.

Both of Cleveland’s home runs came off Danny Duffy (5-8). Santana led off the inning with a line drive that barely cleared the fence in right. Gomes followed with a two-run homer to center.

Michael Brantley, who went 2 for 4 to raise his average to .321, had an RBI single in the fifth.

Santana’s homer came on a 1-1 pitch and was his 13th of the season, tying him with Brantley for the team lead. Ryan Raburn followed with a single, and Gomes hit his 10th home run on a 1-0 pitch.

Cleveland has won four of five and moved within two games of second-place Kansas City in the AL Central. The Royals, who trail first-place Detroit by 4 1-2 games, dropped their first road series since losing two of three against the Los Angeles Angels from May 23-25.

Duffy allowed 10 hits and struck out six in six innings. The left-hander had a 1.69 ERA in six June starts and was 3-1 with a 1.05 ERA in his last four road starts.

The Indians placed leadoff hitter and center fielder Michael Bourn on the disabled list with a strained left hamstring. Bourn has been battling the injury all season and hurt it again running the bases on Saturday.

Left fielder Alex Gordon and designated hitter Billy Butler, who are both in lengthy slumps, were out of Sunday’s lineup. Gordon is mired in a 3 for 40 skid, and Butler has just three hits in 26 at-bats.

— Associated Press —

CLEVELAND (AP) — For someone who just endured a beer bath, T.J. House was all smiles.

House allowed three runs over 6 2/3 innings for his first major league win and the Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals 7-3 on Saturday night.

House’s teammates celebrated the occasion by dousing him with beer, something the rookie left-hander didn’t mind one bit.

“I got rolled into this little cart and they gave me a shower,” he said. “It was nice. I enjoyed it. I’d take one every time we get a win.”

House (1-2) scattered nine hits, struck out three and didn’t walk a batter. He was making the eighth appearance, and seventh start, of his career.

“It feels great,” House said. “I hadn’t had one yet, but the time came and it was the right time, at home in front of the fans.”

Michael Bourn’s leadoff homer sparked a three-run third inning while Nick Swisher’s bases-loaded single scored two runs in the fifth and finished Jeremy Guthrie (5-7).

Michael Brantley had three hits, including an RBI single in the eighth, for Cleveland.

Bourn left the game after scoring the Indians’ final run because of tightness in his left hamstring. He had surgery on the hamstring in October and began the season on the disabled list. Bourn also missed several games in May with the injury.

Cleveland manager Terry Francona said Bourn was examined following the game.

“We’ll know a lot more (Sunday),” Francona said.

House gave up a run in the first, another in the sixth and Danny Valencia hit a leadoff homer in the seventh. But House retired the next two hitters then was pulled after throwing 87 pitches.

Kansas City loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth against closer Cody Allen, pitching in a non-save situation. Allen struck out Lorenzo Cain on a 3-2 pitch before Eric Hosmer swung at the first pitch and bounced into a game-ending double play.

“I think I had Cain in swing mode because he swung at ball four,” Allen said. “I was trying to use Hosmer’s aggressiveness against him because he was trying to tie it up right there.”

House, taken in the 16th round of the 2008 draft, began the season at Triple-A Columbus. He made five starts with the Indians from May 23-June 14 before being sent back to the minors. He was recalled a week ago and lost to Seattle on Sunday against Felix Hernandez, a game in which the Indians were held to one hit.

“He’s pitched well enough to have a win before now,” Francona said. “He’s shown he can get major league hitters out. He’s got a lot of poise out there.”

Hosmer’s RBI groundout in the first gave Kansas City the lead.

Bourn’s third homer of the season tied the game. Jason Kipnis put Cleveland ahead with an RBI double and Lonnie Chisenhall added a run-scoring single.

Kansas City added a run in the sixth, but House struck out Billy Butler with two runners on to end the inning.

“He did a nice job of limiting the damage and threw the ball very well,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “Every time we got something going, he found a way to put an end to it.”

Cleveland loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth before Swisher, who was batting .193 and struck out in his first two at-bats, lined a 1-2 pitch to right-center. The hit pushed the lead to 5-1 and gave Guthrie his shortest outing of the season. The right-hander was charged with six runs and allowed a season-high 11 hits in four-plus innings.

Chisenhall was 2 for 3 and raised his batting average to .342, but he doesn’t have enough plate appearances to be listed among the league leaders. Cleveland’s third baseman is making a strong push to be named to the American League All-Star team, which will be announced Sunday. Chisenhall is hitting .350 (55 for 157) with nine homers and 36 RBIs in 44 games since May 14.

— Associated Press —