 gave up just an unearned run and six hits in seven strong innings. He made a great defensive play in the sixth when he went into a headlong dive to snare a foul popup near the Kansas City dugout.Jakob Junis (6-9) gave up six runs and 10 hits in six-plus innings after coming off the paternity list.The Indians threatened in the first two innings before finally getting to Junis in the third. Naquin hit a one-out single before Lindor ripped a triple down the right field line. Jorge Soler had trouble picking it up in the corner, allowing Lindor to get to third easily. He scored on Mike Freeman's two-out single.Center fielder Bubba Starling ran down Jason Kipnis' drive at the wall, saving another run.The Royals closed within one in the fifth with an unearned run. Whit Merrifield reached on a throwing error by Freeman at third base, moved to third on a single by Alex Gordon and scored on a single by Hunter Dozier.The Indians got another run in the seventh. Junis gave up hits to Naquin and Lindor before being removed. Freeman sent a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Naquin.Kansas City avoided more damage when Starling threw out Lindor trying to score on a flyout.The Indians tacked on runs in the eighth and ninth. The Royals got two in the ninth.Starling extended his hitting streak to 10 games in his 11th major league game.TRAINER'S ROOMIndians: All-Star 1B Carlos Santana was scratched from the lineup with left shoulder soreness. He was in the original lineup as the DH. He is considered day-to-day. ... RHP Jefry Rodriguez, on the injured list since June 2 with a right shoulder sprain, is improving. He's scheduled to throw a bullpen Saturday at the team's Arizona training facility. ... Naquin missed the previous three games with right hamstring tightness.ROSTER MOVESRoyals LHP Richard Lovelady was recalled from Triple-A Omaha. RHP Jake Newberry was optioned to Omaha, and LHP Brian Flynn was designated for assignment.UP NEXTRHP Mike Clevinger (4-2, 3.61 ERA) starts Saturday for Cleveland. He is 7-0 in his career against Kansas City, tied for the most wins against the Royals without a loss. He'll face RHP Glenn Sparkman (3-6, 4.67) in the third game of the four-game series. Sparkman has a 1.76 ERA at home, compared to 8.73 on the road.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Royals get Junis back after taxing bullpen vs. IndiansFLMWhen Jakob Junis takes the mound Friday for the Kansas City Royals against the Cleveland Indians, he'll try to be the second Junis to deliver this week.Junis (6-8, 4.83 ERA) will return from MLB's paternity list after being with his wife, Brianne, who gave birth to their son, Jett Boyd. The couple also has 4-year-old twins. He'll face Cleveland's Zach Plesac (4-3, 3.50) in the second game of a four-game series.Beginning with the 2011 season, players can choose to leave the team to attend the birth of a child. A player placed on the paternity leave list must miss the next team game, but can miss no more than three games."He went home for the birth of his son," manager Ned Yost told reporters when asked if he liked the rule that allows players to leave for the birth of children. "I'm not going to lock him in a closet. It's absolutely a great rule." But when pressed, he acknowledged that baseball hasn't always been so lenient, such as when Yost himself was a player."At times, we all tend to lose sight that this is a game," Yost said. "People have lives. These players have families. You want them to go be there for the birth of their child. When somebody passes away, you want them to be a part of family things." Junis is coming back at a particularly good time, as both clubs will want plenty of innings from their starters following their 14-inning affair Thursday that the Indians won 5-4. Each team used eight pitchers.Junis returns on a small personal hot streak. He tossed six scoreless innings against the Indians in a 1-0 victory last Saturday in Cleveland. He allowed just two singles and three walks, while striking out seven to give him 17 strikeouts over his last two starts. That's the most strikeouts for any two-start stretch in his career.Junis will be making his 10th career start (11th appearance) against Cleveland, which will be his most against any single opponent. He's 3-4 with a 5.73 ERA in his first 10 appearances. He's 1-2 with a 5.87 ERA vs. Cleveland this season.Plesac also will be facing his most familiar opponent, squaring off against the Royals for the third time in his brief major league career. He's 1-0 against the Royals, earning his fourth victory last Sunday, when he allowed two runs on four hits, with six strikeouts, over six innings.The rookie isn't worried that the Royals might have figured him out, though."I think it's just trying not to change anything, really," he told the media when asked about any adjustments he'd have to make. "Just stick to your strengths. I think about how I approached them the last time I faced them. I know they're going to be making adjustments on me, just like I'll be making adjustments on them."At the end of the day, it's a new game. Different pitches might be working better than different pitches did before. Just attack it that way. I don't think I make dramatic changes. Just make reads on their approaches based on the times I've faced them." --Field Level Media
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