 won his fifth straight decision - the longest winning streak of his career that started after a July 17 loss. He gave up seven hits, walked two and struck out four.Relievers Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen did not allow a hit over the final 2 2/3 innings to complete the shutout.Bauer joins teammates Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco as 12-game winners. The Indians are the only team in the majors with three 12-game winners.Roberto Perez delivered the clutch blow, a two-out, two-strike, two-run single in the fourth inning that scored Jay Bruce and Carlos Santana.Jose Ramirez and Jason Kipnis hit consecutive doubles in the first inning for the first Cleveland run.Bruce's RBI-double in the fifth scored Ramirez, who had walked, and finished left-hander Jason Vargas' evening.Vargas (14-7), who had 12 victories at the end of June, gave up four runs, six hits and three walks in 4 2/3 innings. The Royals dropped to 6-12 in August, while the rotation has a 5.99 ERA for the month.Santana doubled and scored on Jackson's single in the eighth for the final Indians run.The Indians are an American League-best 20-8 since July 21 and are 8-2 on their four-city 11-game trip that concludes Sunday.YOST TURNS 63Manager Ned Yost turned 63, but the loss dropped his overall Royals' record to 610-611.TRAINER'S ROOMIndians: It is uncertain whether Kluber, who left in the sixth inning Friday with a right ankle sprain, will make his Wednesday start against Boston. ''He's a little stiff, which I think is normal, but not more than that,'' Indians manager Terry Francona said. He said it is ''probably 50-50 Kluber would start against the Red Sox, but could be pushed back a day or two. ''I think that's probably the worst-case scenario,'' Francona said. ''I think sometimes if you can't prepare for it (a start), it probably behooves us to move him back a little bit.'' Royals: RHP Neftali Feliz was placed on the 10-day disabled list retroactive to Monday with right ulnar nerve palsy. ''It's not bad,'' Yost said. ''It's probably going to be a four, five-day thing, but right now we can't afford to go short. We just can't, the way things have played out here in the last couple of weeks with the pitching. We're thin down there, and we just can't go short.'' ... LHP Eric Skoglund was recalled from Triple-A Omaha. He is 1-1 with a 5.59 ERA in three Kansas City starts this season, but will be used out of the bullpen.UP NEXT:Indians: RHP Danny Salazar is 0-2 with 4.63 ERA in four appearances this season against the Royals.Royals: RHP Jason Hammel is 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA in two starts this year against Cleveland.)
Royals' Vargas looks to continue hold over Indians 17m ago• 2 min read KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Manager Terry Francona decided to liven up the Cleveland clubhouse before Friday night's game with the Kansas City Royals.With 23 games in 23 dates, a doubleheader on Thursday and Kansas City the last stop of an 11-game four-city trip, Francona arranged to have a DJ for the clubhouse and a Pop-A-Shot basketball competition."We were all getting a little tired," Francona said. "It's just kind of our way of showing them that, one, we acknowledge the fact that they're out there playing so much, but also that we care."The game is the most important thing, and that's where you want your energy. But in the meantime, I don't think it hurts to have a little bit of fun." The basketball shooting competition will continue through the weekend. Francona tried his luck, but without much success. The DJ played mostly hip-hop and rap."That would not be my song list," Francona said, laughing.The Indians had a laugher in thumping the Royals 10-1 in the first game of the three-game series at Kauffman Stadium.The two teams meet again Saturday with right-hander Trevor Bauer going for the Indians and left-hander Jason Vargas starting for the Royals.How important is this series to the Royals?"I was just waiting for that question," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "(Wondering) who was going to ask that brilliant question. It's a big series, yeah. These games are two-game swings. It's a huge series." A Royals' victory Friday would have pulled them with 4 1/2 games of the Indians, but the loss dropped them 6 1/2 games in arrears. And with the Minnesota victory, the Royals fell into third place in the American League Central.Bauer will be making his ninth career appearance against the Royals. He has a 1-2 career record versus Kansas City with a 3.43 ERA. This will be his 24th start of the season. He is 4-3 with a 5.82 ERA in nine road appearances, eight of them starts.Eric Hosmer is 5-for-15 with a home run and three RBIs against Bauer. Alcides Escobar has a .316 average (6-for-19) versus Bauer, and Alex Gordon is 2-for-12 (.167) with a home run against him.Vargas is 14-6 with a 3.45 ERA. The 14 victories match his career high set in 2012.He has dominated the Indians in his time with the Royals, going 6-1 with a 3.17 ERA in 11 starts. Vargas is 2-0 with a 0.87 ERA -- two earned runs in 20 2/3 innings -- against the Indians this year.Vargas is 7-3 with a 3.30 ERA in 12 home starts this year.While the Indians have won 7 of 8, the Royals have lost 12 of 18 starting on July 31. The Royals were seven games above .500 on July 30 and two games behind the Indians after a win at Boston that date.After the loss Friday, they are one game above .500 and have lost five of their past six Kauffman Stadium games. They still have nine games remaining with the Indians, but the last seven are in Cleveland.
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