 had been 22 for 22 in save chances and is likely on his way to being selected to represent the Indians when they host the All-Star game at Progressive Field next month.But the left-hander did not record an out against the Royals, who entered the ninth down 6-3 before storming back.''It was a fun comeback,'' said Royals manager Ned Yost. ''It was an uplifting comeback. We always come to this place and it's just a handful for us here in Cleveland - every time, I don't know why. I'd much rather play them at our park, but it is always a handful. To battle back and take this one here was nice.'' The Royals had been 0-42 when trailing after eight innings before recording their biggest ninth-inning comeback in two years.Nicky Lopez had an RBI infield single before Kansas City loaded the bases and Dozier connected on Hand's first pitch - a slider - for his first career grand slam and 13th homer.''Yeah,'' said Dozier, downplaying his big moment. ''That was really cool.'' Hand looked shaky from the outset, and was pulled after allowing five hits in just 13 pitches.''He just proved he's human,'' Indians manager Terry Francona said. ''He had been pretty much flawless. It hurts to lose a game, but to expect somebody to never give up runs is not realistic.'' Hand offered no excuses, saying he wasn't tired despite pitching five times in the past six days.''I felt physically good,'' he said. ''I'd let him (Francona) know if something felt tired or whatever, but I felt good, just didn't make some pitches. I got ahead, was trying to bury a few sliders and left them up. Sometimes when you throw too many strikes, it comes back to hurt you. Just got ahead of a few of those batters and made some mistakes.'' Kevin McCarthy (2-1) pitched the eighth and stumbled into a win, and Ian Kennedy worked the ninth for his 10th save, striking out Carlos Santana with a runner at second for the final out.Tyler Naquin hit a two-run homer and Santana, Roberto Perez and Mike Freeman had solo shots for the Indians, who were three outs away from their fifth straight win before Hand imploded.POWER COMPANYOne bright spot for the Indians was getting homers from their Nos. 7, 8 and 9 homers. Cleveland's offense has been steadily improving and a big reason for the club's surge in June.''We did some good things offensively,'' Francona said. ''It's just one of those nights where they came back and snatched one from us. We've done that before. It hurts.'' CLEVELAND ROCKEDThe Royals snapped a three-game losing streak at Progressive Field and improved to just 8-23 in Cleveland since 2016.START AND STOPIndians starter Shane Bieber stayed around for 5 2/3 innings, and was in position to get the win when he left, but was unsatisfied with his performance.''It was kind of one of those days where maybe my stuff was OK, but it felt like I was out of sync and yanking some sliders and some curveballs and not as good of command as usual,'' he said. ''Even then, I had a lot of opportunities to go deeper in the game.'' TRAINER'S ROOMRoyals: LHP Eric Skoglund's 80-game suspension for testing positive for banned performance-enhancing drugs ends Wednesday. Skoglund was in the mix to make Kansas City's rotation before the ban. He's made three minor league rehab starts and will be added to the 40-man roster.Indians: RHP Mike Clevinger will be activated Friday to start the series opener in Baltimore. Clevinger has been sidelined with a sprained ankle sustained in his first start after returning from an eight-week stint on the injured list with a strained back muscle. Francona said Clevinger's bullpen session was intense. ''Looked like Game 7 of the World Series,'' he said. ... OF Jake Bauers felt better after rolling his left ankle during batting practice Monday. Bauers was initially scared he was more seriously injured. ''He said he almost kind of blacked out,'' said Francona, who was surprised to learn Bauers had never sprained an ankle. ''I could do that sleeping,'' he cracked.UP NEXTRoyals: RHP Jakob Junis (4-6, 5.18 ERA) makes his seventh career start against the Indians. He pitched seven innings of two-hit ball against Cleveland on Sept. 3.Indians: RHP Trevor Bauer (5-6, 3.69) is winless in his last eight starts at home. He allowed a season-high tying 10 hits in his last start on June 21 at Detroit.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Hot-hitting Indians take aim at Royals againFLMJason Kipnis and Jose Ramirez struggled early this season for the Cleveland Indians, but they are coming on fast now.Kipnis and Ramirez aim to continue their torrid stretches at the plate on Tuesday as the Indians bid for a series victory over the visiting Kansas City Royals.Cleveland has won nine of its past 11 to improve to an American League-best 15-6 in June. Kansas City has lost three of its past four.Kipnis highlighted his three-hit performance on Monday by homering to lead off the 10th inning, giving the Indians a 3-2 victory. The 32-year-old is batting .471 (16-for-34) with four homers, 14 RBIs and eight runs in his past nine games to boost his season average to .248."Sometimes a guy will get the feel ... with Kip, I think it's his hands," Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. "Sometimes he feels like his hands are underwater. That's not what he says, but he has such good hitter's hands that when he feels good, he's pretty dangerous." Ramirez ripped a pair of doubles, walked twice, drove in a run and scored another in the series opener. The 26-year-old has three multi-hit performances in his last four games and has hit safely in 10 of his past 11 contests."We've been talking a lot. If this team is going to get going, it's going to be with us," Kipnis said, referring to himself and Ramirez. "We dug ourselves a nice little hole at the beginning of the year, so it's up to us to get out of it. But you know what? Starting off a little slow keeps you locked in for the rest of the way." Cleveland right-hander Shane Bieber (6-3, 3.86 ERA) will get the nod on Tuesday looking to avenge his first loss since May 13 in his last outing.Bieber allowed two runs on five hits with eight strikeouts in six innings of a 4-2 setback at Texas on Thursday.The 24-year-old won both of his career starts against Kansas City, both in 2018, despite permitting four runs in each contest. Royals first baseman/designated hitter Lucas Duda is 3-for-6 with a pair of homers and four RBIs versus Bieber.Bieber also will need to keep tabs on Whit Merrifield, who has hit safely in 13 of his past 14 games.Merrifield homered to lead off the fourth inning and had a single in the sixth during the series opener to improve to 8-for-19 (.421) with two homers and three RBIs against the Indians this season. He is 2-for-6 with a homer in his career against Bieber.Kansas City right-hander Glenn Sparkman (2-3, 3.62 ERA) will take the mound on Tuesday after allowing one run on five hits in a career-high seven innings of a 4-1 victory versus Minnesota on Thursday.The 27-year-old pitched well in his lone career start versus Cleveland, allowing one run on five hits in five innings during a no-decision last September.Royals manager Ned Yost would love for Sparkman to pitch as well as Brad Keller did Monday. Keller struck out four over three scoreless innings before his night ended after a 2-hour, 23-minute rain delay."It's too bad. Keller was really sharp (Monday)," Yost said. "It's too bad we couldn't have lengthened him out today with the stuff that he had." The availability of Cleveland's Jake Bauers is in question after he sprained his left ankle and limped off the field while shagging fly balls during batting practice on Monday."If he can play (Tuesday), he will," Francona said. "We all thought it was really bad when it happened, but he's going to be OK." --Field Level Media
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