GAME THREAD: AL: KANSAS CITY (22-38) at CLEVELAND (35-22)

AL: KANSAS CITY at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">AL AT CLEVELAND - MID INNING UPDATE
PLAY: R Betancourt relieved F Carmona.
SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: KANSAS CITY 1
CLEVELAND 3 TOP, 8TH

DUE UP FOR KANSAS CITY: M Grudzielanek (.261, 0-FOR-3)</div>

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">AL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
KANSAS CITY 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 7 0
CLEVELAND 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 3 7 0 (BOT 8)

CURRENT PITCHERS: KAN - BRANDON DUCKWORTH
CLE - RAFAEL BETANCOURT

DUE UP FOR CLEVELAND: J PERALTA (.292, 0-FOR-3)
R GARKO (.321, 0-FOR-2, HBP)
J MICHAELS (.277, 1-FOR-2, BB, HR, RBI)</div>

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">KANSAS CITY (1) VS CLEVELAND (3) - MID 8TH - IN PROGRESS

KANSAS CITY ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
D DeJesus cf 3 0 0 0 1 1 3 .257
M Grudzielanek 2b 4 0 0 0 0 2 2 .259
M Teahen rf 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 .281
E Brown dh 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 .218
A Gordon 1b 3 1 3 0 0 0 0 .186
E German 3b 3 0 0 0 0 1 2 .252
J Buck c 3 0 1 1 0 0 1 .282
T Pena Jr ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .259
J Gathright lf 3 0 2 0 0 1 0 .667

Totals 30 1 7 1 1 6 11

BATTING: 2B - A Gordon (10, F Carmona). 3B - A Gordon (2, F Carmona). RBI - J
Buck (22). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - M Grudzielanek 1, J Buck
1, D DeJesus 1. GIDP - M Teahen. Team LOB - 6.

BASERUNNING: SB - J Gathright (2, 2nd base off F Carmona/V Martinez).

FIELDING: Outfield assists - D DeJesus (J Barfield at 3rd base). DP: 1 (M
Grudzielanek-T Pena Jr-A Gordon).


CLEVELAND ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
G Sizemore cf 4 0 1 0 0 2 0 .274
C Blake 3b 3 0 0 0 1 1 1 .276
T Hafner dh 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 .274
V Martinez c 4 0 1 0 0 0 3 .315
J Peralta ss 3 0 0 0 0 2 4 .292
R Garko 1b 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .321
J Michaels lf 2 2 1 1 1 0 1 .277
J Barfield 2b 3 0 2 1 0 0 0 .245
F Gutierrez rf 3 1 1 1 0 0 2 .235

Totals 26 3 7 3 4 5 11

BATTING: 2B - V Martinez (10, O Perez); J Barfield (8, O Perez). HR - F
Gutierrez (2, 4th inning off O Perez 0 on, 2 Out), J Michaels (4, 6th inning
off O Perez 0 on, 1 Out). RBI - J Barfield (28), F Gutierrez (3), J Michaels
(16). 2-out RBI - F Gutierrez. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - C
Blake 1, J Peralta 3. GIDP - F Gutierrez. Team LOB - 7.

BASERUNNING: SB - G Sizemore (18, 2nd base off O Perez/J Buck).

FIELDING: DP: 1 (C Blake-J Barfield-R Garko).


----------------------------------------------------
KANSAS CITY - 000 000 10 -- 1
CLEVELAND - 000 201 0 -- 3
----------------------------------------------------

KANSAS CITY ip h r er bb so hr era
O Perez 5 1/3 7 3 3 3 4 2 5.68
B Duckworth 1 2/3 0 0 0 1 1 0 2.53

CLEVELAND ip h r er bb so hr era
F Carmona 7 7 1 1 1 5 0 3.11
R Betancourt 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1.48

WP - F Carmona. HBP - R Garko (by O Perez). Pitches-strikes: O Perez 99-59; B
Duckworth 32-18; F Carmona 100-64; R Betancourt 13-9. Ground balls-fly balls: O
Perez 5-6; B Duckworth 0-4; F Carmona 11-5; R Betancourt 0-2. Batters faced: O
Perez 25; B Duckworth 6; F Carmona 28; R Betancourt 3.

UMPIRES: HP--Tim Tschida. 1B--Jim Joyce. 2B--Troy Fullwood. 3B--Jim Wolf.

Weather: 81 degrees, sunny. Wind: 15 mph, out to center.</div>

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">AL AT CLEVELAND - PITCHING CHANGE
KAN: ZACK GREINKE (2-4, 5.26) IN THE 8TH
SITUATION: NO RUNS IN, R GARKO ON SECOND, J PERALTA ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: KANSAS CITY 1, CLEVELAND 3

DUE UP FOR CLEVELAND: J BARFIELD (.245, 2-FOR-3, RBI)</div>

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">AL AT CLEVELAND - MID INNING UPDATE
PLAY: Z Greinke relieved B Duckworth.
SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, R GARKO ON SECOND, J PERALTA ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: KANSAS CITY 1
CLEVELAND 3 BOTTOM, 8TH

DUE UP FOR CLEVELAND: J Barfield (.245, 2-FOR-3, RBI)</div>

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">AL AT CLEVELAND - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY JOSH BARFIELD SCORED JHONNY PERALTA.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, R GARKO ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: KANSAS CITY 1
CLEVELAND 4 BOTTOM, 8TH

DUE UP FOR CLEVELAND: F GUTIERREZ (.235, 1-FOR-3, HR, RBI)</div>

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">AL AT CLEVELAND - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY GRADY SIZEMORE SCORED RYAN GARKO AND FRANKLIN
GUTIERREZ.
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: KANSAS CITY 1
CLEVELAND 6 BOTTOM, 8TH

DUE UP FOR CLEVELAND: C BLAKE (.276, 0-FOR-3, BB)</div>

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">AL AT CLEVELAND - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY CASEY BLAKE (9) TO LEFT WITH 2 OUT IN
THE 8TH OFF ZACK GREINKE SCORED GRADY SIZEMORE.
CURRENT SCORE: KANSAS CITY 1, CLEVELAND 8

DUE UP FOR CLEVELAND: T HAFNER (.274, 1-FOR-2, 2 BB)</div>

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">AL KANSAS CITY AT CLEVELAND
NOTE: CLEVELAND THIRD BASEMAN CASEY BLAKE EXTENDED HIS
HITTING STREAK TO 16 GAMES WITH A HOME RUN IN THE EIGHTH INNING.</div>

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">AL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
KANSAS CITY 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 7 1
CLEVELAND 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 5 8 9 0 (TOP 9)

CURRENT PITCHERS: KAN - ZACK GREINKE
CLE - RAFAEL BETANCOURT

DUE UP FOR KANSAS CITY: A GORDON (.186, 3-FOR-3)
E GERMAN (.252, 0-FOR-3)
J BUCK (.282, 1-FOR-3, RBI)</div>

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">KANSAS CITY (1) VS CLEVELAND (8) - END 8TH - IN PROGRESS

KANSAS CITY ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
D DeJesus cf 3 0 0 0 1 1 3 .257
M Grudzielanek 2b 4 0 0 0 0 2 2 .259
M Teahen rf 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 .281
E Brown dh 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 .218
A Gordon 1b 3 1 3 0 0 0 0 .186
E German 3b 3 0 0 0 0 1 2 .252
J Buck c 3 0 1 1 0 0 1 .282
T Pena Jr ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .259
J Gathright lf 3 0 2 0 0 1 0 .667

Totals 30 1 7 1 1 6 11

BATTING: 2B - A Gordon (10, F Carmona). 3B - A Gordon (2, F Carmona). RBI - J
Buck (22). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - M Grudzielanek 1, J Buck
1, D DeJesus 1. GIDP - M Teahen. Team LOB - 6.

BASERUNNING: SB - J Gathright (2, 2nd base off F Carmona/V Martinez).

FIELDING: E - T Pena Jr (10, ground ball). Outfield assists - D DeJesus (J
Barfield at 3rd base). DP: 1 (M Grudzielanek-T Pena Jr-A Gordon).


CLEVELAND ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
G Sizemore cf 5 1 2 2 0 2 0 .278
C Blake 3b 4 1 1 2 1 1 1 .280
T Hafner dh 3 0 1 0 2 0 0 .272
V Martinez c 4 0 1 0 0 0 3 .315
J Peralta ss 3 1 0 0 1 2 4 .292
R Garko 1b 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 .320
J Michaels lf 2 2 1 1 1 0 1 .277
J Barfield 2b 3 0 2 2 0 0 1 .245
F Gutierrez rf 3 2 1 1 1 0 2 .235

Totals 30 8 9 8 6 5 12

BATTING: 2B - V Martinez (10, O Perez); J Barfield (8, O Perez); G Sizemore
(10, Z Greinke). HR - F Gutierrez (2, 4th inning off O Perez 0 on, 2 Out), J
Michaels (4, 6th inning off O Perez 0 on, 1 Out), C Blake (9, 8th inning off Z
Greinke 1 on, 2 Out). S - J Michaels. SF - J Barfield. RBI - J Barfield 2 (29),
F Gutierrez (3), J Michaels (16), G Sizemore 2 (31), C Blake 2 (32). 2-out RBI
- F Gutierrez, G Sizemore 2, C Blake 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out
- C Blake 1, J Peralta 3. GIDP - F Gutierrez. Team LOB - 7.

BASERUNNING: SB - G Sizemore (18, 2nd base off O Perez/J Buck).

FIELDING: DP: 1 (C Blake-J Barfield-R Garko).


----------------------------------------------------
KANSAS CITY - 000 000 10 -- 1
CLEVELAND - 000 201 05 -- 8
----------------------------------------------------

KANSAS CITY ip h r er bb so hr era
O Perez 5 1/3 7 3 3 3 4 2 5.68
B Duckworth 2 0 2 1 2 1 0 2.78
Z Greinke 2/3 2 3 2 1 0 1 5.54

CLEVELAND ip h r er bb so hr era
F Carmona 7 7 1 1 1 5 0 3.11
R Betancourt 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1.48

WP - F Carmona, Z Greinke. HBP - R Garko (by O Perez). Pitches-strikes: O
Perez 99-59; B Duckworth 44-25; Z Greinke 29-20; F Carmona 100-64; R Betancourt
13-9. Ground balls-fly balls: O Perez 5-6; B Duckworth 1-4; Z Greinke 0-2; F
Carmona 11-5; R Betancourt 0-2. Batters faced: O Perez 25; B Duckworth 9; Z
Greinke 5; F Carmona 28; R Betancourt 3.

UMPIRES: HP--Tim Tschida. 1B--Jim Joyce. 2B--Troy Fullwood. 3B--Jim Wolf.

Weather: 81 degrees, sunny. Wind: 15 mph, out to center.</div>

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">AL AT CLEVELAND - PITCHING CHANGE
CLE: TOM MASTNY (3-2, 5.01) STARTING THE 9TH
CURRENT SCORE: KANSAS CITY 1, CLEVELAND 8

DUE UP FOR KANSASCITY: A GORDON (.186, 3-FOR-3)</div>

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">AL AT CLEVELAND - MID INNING UPDATE
PLAY: T Mastny relieved R Betancourt.
SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: KANSAS CITY 1
CLEVELAND 8 TOP, 9TH

DUE UP FOR KANSAS CITY: A Gordon (.186, 3-FOR-3)</div>

 

Carmona cruises to seventh straight win as Indians roll

<h3>CLEVELAND 8, KANSAS CITY 3</h3>CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- A year after squandering an opportunity,Fausto Carmona has taken advantage of another one.

Carmona won his seventh decision in a row as the ClevelandIndians defeated the Kansas City Royals, 8-3, on Thursday.

The victory improved the Indians' home record to 21-7, the bestmark in the majors. Cleveland is 9-0-1 in 10 series this seasonat Jacobs Field.

Carmona (7-1), who has not lost since his first start of theseason, allowed one run and seven hits while matching a seasonhigh with five strikeouts in seven innings.

Last year, Carmona was inserted into the closer's role after theIndians traded Bob Wickman to the Atlanta Braves.

But the experiment failed miserably, as Carmona blew his firstthree save opportunities and lost five consecutive decisionsfrom July 30 through August 23, 2006 with a 16.39 ERA as areliever.

This season has been a different story for Carmona, who wassupposed to start the season at Class AAA Buffalo. But aninjury to lefthander Cliff Lee opened up a spot for Carmona inthe rotation and the righthander capitalized, going 2-1 with a3.76 ERA.

Carmona was sent back to the minors when Lee was activated butnever made it to Buffalo, as righthander Jake Westbrook wasplaced on the DL to leave a rotation spot open. Carmona hasn'tlooked back since then, going 5-0 in eight starts with a 2.76ERA.

Now with Westbrook's return possibly a week away, the Indianshave no choice but to keep Carmona on their roster.

The Indians broke open a 3-1 game with a five-run eighth inningThursday. Josh Barfield hit a sacrifice fly and Grady Sizemorehad a two-out, two-run double to make it 6-1.

Casey Blake followed Sizemore's double with a two-run homer,extending his hitting streak to a career-high 16 games andcapping off the scoring.

Cleveland jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning. Aftera one-out walk to Jason Michaels, Barfield hit an RBI double toleft-center field but was thrown out trying to advance to third.

Franklin Gutierrez followed with a home run to right on OdalisPerez's 2-0 pitch, his second blast of the season.

Michaels extended Cleveland's lead to 3-0 with a solo home runin the sixth off of Perez (3-6), ending the lefthander's day.

Perez, who didn't get the run support he did in his last startagainst Tampa Bay, allowed the three runs and seven hits,walking three and striking out four in 5 1/3 frames.

The Royals' loss overshadowed a fine performance from rookieAlex Gordon, who went 4-for-4 and was a homer short of thecycle.

Gordon's leadoff triple in the seventh was the only time KansasCity had a runner at third the whole afternoon against Carmona.John Buck would drive home Gordon with a single.

Kansas City added a pair of runs in the ninth thanks to JoeyGathright, who blooped a two-run hit with two outs to make it8-3.

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">AL AT CLEVELAND - MID INNING UPDATE
PLAY: S Costa hit for T Pena Jr.
SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, E GERMAN ON FIRST, A GORDON ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: KANSAS CITY 1
CLEVELAND 8 TOP, 9TH

DUE UP FOR KANSAS CITY: S Costa (.190, 0 HR, 5 RBI)</div>

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">AL AT CLEVELAND - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JOEY GATHRIGHT SCORED ALEX GORDON AND SHANE
COSTA.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, J GATHRIGHT ON FIRST, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: KANSAS CITY 3
CLEVELAND 8 TOP, 9TH

DUE UP FOR KANSAS CITY: D DEJESUS (.257, 0-FOR-3, BB)</div>

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
KANSAS CITY 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 3 9 1
CLEVELAND 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 5 x 8 9 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: KAN - ODALIS PEREZ, BRANDON DUCKWORTH (6TH), ZACK GREINKE (8TH) AND
JOHN BUCK

CLE - FAUSTO CARMONA, RAFAEL BETANCOURT (8TH), TOM
MASTNY (9TH) AND VICTOR MARTINEZ

HOME RUNS: KAN - NONE

CLE - FRANKLIN GUTIERREZ (2) OFF ODALIS PEREZ IN THE 4TH, 0 ON
JASON MICHAELS (4) OFF ODALIS PEREZ IN THE 6TH, 0 ON
CASEY BLAKE (9) OFF ZACK GREINKE IN THE 8TH, 1 ON</div>

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
KANSAS CITY 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 3 9 1
CLEVELAND 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 5 x 8 9 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: KAN - ODALIS PEREZ, BRANDON DUCKWORTH (6TH), ZACK GREINKE (8TH) AND
JOHN BUCK

CLE - FAUSTO CARMONA, RAFAEL BETANCOURT (8TH), TOM
MASTNY (9TH) AND VICTOR MARTINEZ


WP - FAUSTO CARMONA (7-1)
LP - ODALIS PEREZ (3-6)
SAVE - NONE

HOME RUNS: KAN - NONE

CLE - FRANKLIN GUTIERREZ (2) OFF ODALIS PEREZ IN THE 4TH, 0 ON
JASON MICHAELS (4) OFF ODALIS PEREZ IN THE 6TH, 0 ON
CASEY BLAKE (9) OFF ZACK GREINKE IN THE 8TH, 1 ON


TIME: 3:16 ATT: 19,315

PROBABLES: CLE - CLIFF LEE (2-3, 6.35)
CIN - HOMER BAILEY (NR)

PROBABLES: PHI - FREDDY GARCIA (1-4, 5.11)
KAN - SCOTT ELARTON (1-2, 7.36)</div>

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">KANSAS CITY (3) VS CLEVELAND (8) - FINAL

KANSAS CITY ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
D DeJesus cf 4 0 0 0 1 1 4 .256
M Grudzielanek 2b 4 0 0 0 0 2 2 .259
M Teahen rf 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 .281
E Brown dh 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 .218
A Gordon 1b 4 2 4 0 0 0 0 .190
E German 3b 3 0 0 0 1 1 2 .252
J Buck c 4 0 1 1 0 1 3 .280
T Pena Jr ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .259
a-S Costa ph 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 .186
J Gathright lf 4 0 3 2 0 1 0 .714

Totals 35 3 9 3 2 7 15

a-grounded into fielder's choice to first for T Pena Jr in the 9th.

BATTING: 2B - A Gordon (10, F Carmona). 3B - A Gordon (2, F Carmona). RBI - J
Buck (22), J Gathright 2 (2). 2-out RBI - J Gathright 2. Runners left in
scoring position, 2 out - M Grudzielanek 1, J Buck 1, D DeJesus 2. GIDP - M
Teahen. Team LOB - 7.

BASERUNNING: SB - J Gathright (2, 2nd base off F Carmona/V Martinez).

FIELDING: E - T Pena Jr (10, ground ball). Outfield assists - D DeJesus (J
Barfield at 3rd base). DP: 1 (M Grudzielanek-T Pena Jr-A Gordon).


CLEVELAND ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
G Sizemore cf 5 1 2 2 0 2 0 .278
C Blake 3b 4 1 1 2 1 1 1 .280
T Hafner dh 3 0 1 0 2 0 0 .272
V Martinez c 4 0 1 0 0 0 3 .315
J Peralta ss 3 1 0 0 1 2 4 .292
R Garko 1b 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 .320
J Michaels lf 2 2 1 1 1 0 1 .277
J Barfield 2b 3 0 2 2 0 0 1 .245
F Gutierrez rf 3 2 1 1 1 0 2 .235

Totals 30 8 9 8 6 5 12

BATTING: 2B - V Martinez (10, O Perez); J Barfield (8, O Perez); G Sizemore
(10, Z Greinke). HR - F Gutierrez (2, 4th inning off O Perez 0 on, 2 Out), J
Michaels (4, 6th inning off O Perez 0 on, 1 Out), C Blake (9, 8th inning off Z
Greinke 1 on, 2 Out). S - J Michaels. SF - J Barfield. RBI - J Barfield 2 (29),
F Gutierrez (3), J Michaels (16), G Sizemore 2 (31), C Blake 2 (32). 2-out RBI
- F Gutierrez, G Sizemore 2, C Blake 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out
- C Blake 1, J Peralta 3. GIDP - F Gutierrez. Team LOB - 7.

BASERUNNING: SB - G Sizemore (18, 2nd base off O Perez/J Buck).

FIELDING: DP: 1 (C Blake-J Barfield-R Garko).


----------------------------------------------------
KANSAS CITY - 000 000 102 -- 3
CLEVELAND - 000 201 05x -- 8
----------------------------------------------------

KANSAS CITY ip h r er bb so hr era
O Perez (L, 3-6) 5 1/3 7 3 3 3 4 2 5.68
B Duckworth 2 0 2 0 2 1 0 2.51
Z Greinke 2/3 2 3 3 1 0 1 5.72

CLEVELAND ip h r er bb so hr era
F Carmona (W, 7-1) 7 7 1 1 1 5 0 3.11
R Betancourt (H, 12) 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1.48
T Mastny 1 2 2 2 1 1 0 5.55

WP - F Carmona, Z Greinke. HBP - R Garko (by O Perez). Pitches-strikes: O
Perez 99-59; B Duckworth 44-25; Z Greinke 29-20; F Carmona 100-64; R Betancourt
13-9; T Mastny 28-16. Ground balls-fly balls: O Perez 5-6; B Duckworth 1-4; Z
Greinke 0-2; F Carmona 11-5; R Betancourt 0-2; T Mastny 1-1. Batters faced: O
Perez 25; B Duckworth 9; Z Greinke 5; F Carmona 28; R Betancourt 3; T Mastny 6.


UMPIRES: HP--Tim Tschida. 1B--Jim Joyce. 2B--Troy Fullwood. 3B--Jim Wolf.

T--3:16. Att--19,315.
Weather: 81 degrees, sunny. Wind: 15 mph, out to
center.</div>

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
AL
KANSAS CITY 3
CLEVELAND 8 FINAL</div>