The Cleveland Indians are playing winning baseball and it showed as they defeated the Kansas City Royals on Sunday 7-0, completing a four-game sweep of the league leaders to take over first place in the American League Central division.
The Indians finished the month of May at 26-24, in third place and 2.5 games behind the Royals. But on June 1st, they defeated the Texas Rangers 5-4, which propelled them into the weekend 4-game series with Kansas City who entered the series match-up on a six-game winning streak.
But Cleveland put a quick halt on the streak as they defeated the Royals 5-4 on Thursday, as the Indians rallied with two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to steal game one in style with the walk-off thriller.
On Friday, the Tribe scored four runs in the first three innings and then held on for the 6-1 victory. Starter Danny Salazar threw a gem to earn his six win on the season with eight strong innings, allowing just one run on three hits, with five walks and nine strikeouts.
On Saturday, the hitting barrage continued as the Indians banged out 12 hits and scored six runs late in the game for the 7-1 win. Starter Josh Tomlin followed Salazar’s solid start, by tossing 6.1 innings, allowing one run on seven hits, with a walk and four strikeouts, earning his eight win against just one loss on the season.
On Sunday, Tribe starter Corey Kluber and the Indians bullpen completely shut down the Royals offense with a 7-0 shutout to complete their rise to the top of the division. Kluber tossed six shutout innings, allowing just two hits, two walks and struck out six batters to win his fifth game on the season.
On the offensive side for the series, Francisco Lindor batted .500 (8 for 16), with five runs scored, two doubles, a triple, two home runs and seven RBI’s. Rookie outfielder Tyler Naquin also had a strong showing at the plate as he hit .545 (6 for 11), with three runs scored, a double, three home runs, and five RBI’s.
David Conde
David is the Co-Founder and Executive Editor of Legends On Deck®, as well as a Co-Host on Legends On Deck Podcast. David was a Senior Editor for MetsMerizedOnline.com, MetsMinors.net and Contributor for Hardballchat.com that spanned from 2010 to 2014. David made his MLB Debut as a writer in June 2014, while covering the NY Mets at Citi Field, for MetsmerizedOnline.com. David also coaches baseball for ages 13-15, a Babe Ruth League team in his local community. David's passion is coaching the game he loves to the future Legends of Tomorrow as well as making available a website that people can have fun sharing and reading. David is also passionate about his career as a Mortgage Loan Officer which allows him to help many families reach their dreams of owning a home. Connect with David via his Social Media pages as he loves to chat all about baseball.
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