Sep 16, 2007, 20:45 GMT
Cleveland, OH - Billy Buckner hurled six brilliant innings for his first major league win, and Emil Brown had three hits and drove in a pair of runs as Kansas City avoided a sweep by edging Cleveland, 4-3, at Jacobs Field.
Buckner (1-1) allowed just one run on five hits, while walking one and fanning three for the Royals, who won for just the second time in 11 games.
Mark Teahen and John Buck added an RBI apiece for Kansas City.
Victor Martinez homered for the Indians, who lost for just the fifth time in 22 games and still hold a relatively comfortable 4 1/2 lead over Detroit in the Cleveland begins a three-game series at home with the Tigers starting on Monday.
Aaron Laffey (3-2) surrendered four runs on eight hits in 6 1/3 innings en route to the loss.
Joakim Soria came on to get the final four outs for the Royals to pick up his 15th save of the year, getting the help of a poor base running play. Jhonny Peralta singled to start the ninth and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, but pinch-runner Josh Barfield was tagged out in a rundown between second and third on a grounder by Franklin Gutierrez. Casey Blake then fanned to end the game.
The Royals jumped on top with a pair of runs in the second. Billy Butler singled to center, quickly moved to third on Alex Gordon's double and scored on Brown's base hit to right. Buck followed with a sacrifice fly to left to make it 2-0.
Kansas City tacked on an insurance run in the sixth. Esteban German led off the frame with a single, but the Royals couldn't advance him so the second baseman swiped second with two down. Laffey then walked Gordon and uncorked a wild pitch to let both runners move up before Brown reached on an infield single to make it a 3-0 game.
The Indians finally got to Buckner in the sixth when Martinez blasted a two- out, solo homer, his 23rd of the year.
The Royals got that run back in the seventh. Tony Pena Jr. got on with a one- out infield single and moved to second when David DeJesus walked. Cleveland lifted Laffey at that point and went to the bullpen. Jensen Lewis came on and got German swinging, but Teahen slapped a run-scoring single to right to make it a 4-1 game.
Cleveland got back in it against the Royals bullpen in the seventh. John Bale entered the game and promptly walked Peralta before giving up a single to pinch-hitter Jason Michaels. Kansas City then went to Brandon Duckworth, who immediately unfurled a wild pitch to put both runners in scoring position. Gutierrez plated Peralta with a single up the middle and Blake pushed home another run with a ground ball to short to make it 4-3. The third pitcher of the inning, Jimmy Gobble, came on to get Grady Sizemore on a fly ball and Asdrubal Cabrera swinging to end the threat.
Game Notes
Kansas City is just 5-13 in Cleveland since the start of the 2006 season...Martinez matched a career-high with his 23rd home run.
© 2007 The Sports Network
Game Notes.
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