KANSAS CITY, Mo. — While the Indians’ offense nickel-and-dimed Royals starter Danny Duffy on Thursday, rookie right-hander Triston McKenzie’s outing was straight up cash money.
McKenzie held Kansas City scoreless through five innings on two hits and three walks, striking out five in a 4-0 Cleveland win at Kauffman Stadium. The victory gave the Indians five straight wins, a four-game sweep of the Royals and sole possession of first place in the American League Central Division.
Indians hitters capitalized on a run-scoring chance early against Duffy, who entered the game leading the majors with an 0.60 ERA. Harold Ramirez, playing in his fourth game with the club, led off the second with a double and scored on Amed Rosario’s bloop single down the right-field line.
Ramirez’s double was his third in five hits with Cleveland, and Rosario’s RBI gave him 11 hits against left-handed pitching.
Jordan Luplow’s two-out RBI single to left in the fifth was one of three straight hits off Duffy. It snapped an 0-for-14 skid for Luplow and scored René Rivera, who was playing in his first game with the club. Rivera had singled and moved into scoring position on César Hernández’s third hit.
Rosario delivered a two-out RBI triple in the sixth that knocked Duffy out of the game and gave him 12 hits with runners in scoring position and two outs on the year.
Rosario, speaking through interpreter Agustin Rivero, said it felt good to add on runs against a good pitcher in Duffy.
“I’ve been able to make adjustments and I can see the team playing inspired baseball,” Rosario said. “Any little run at that time of the game is really important, so it felt really good to bring in that extra run.”
Francona said Rosario’s swing was huge because it took pressure off McKenzie and the Cleveland bullpen.
“We know they were going to keep playing,” Francona said. “We just wanted to get away from where a mistake doesn’t cost you a game.”
Franmil Reyes added a solo shot to left field in the eighth off KC lefty Jake Brentz. It was Reyes’ eighth home run of the year and his third extra-base hit of the series.
Meanwhile, McKenzie cruised through the first five innings striking out five Royals hitters and getting timely defense to help escape trouble. He got Carlos Santana to ground sharply into a double play to end the first inning and snagged a line drive back up the middle off Hunter Dozier for the final out of the second.
With runners on first and second in the fourth, he struck out Ryan O’Hearn on a check swing as third base umpire Angel Hernandez ruled O’Hearn had offered at the pitch.
McKenzie said his focus Thursday on pitching to the next batter after giving up a walk or a hit was better than it had been in his previous two starts.
“The situations in which the walks happened and how I went about attacking hitters after I gave up a walk was a lot different,” McKenzie said. “Even when I fell behind guys there was a lot more urgency to get back into the count and let them put the bat on the ball.”
Rookie Nick Sandlin relieved after the first two batters in the sixth reached off McKenzie. Sandlin got Salvador Perez to ground into a double play and retired Jorge Soler on a grounder to short to escape trouble. Francona praised Sandlin’s poise in the sixth.
“We’re coming into a situation where things are looking like things are going to get a little hairy,” Francona said. “He not only gets out of that but goes out for the next inning.”
It was McKenzie’s best outing since his five-inning, seven-strikeout performance April 17 in Cincinnati, coming on the heels of back-to-back two-inning showings in the last two weeks.
Francona said McKenzie has worked on driving his fastball to the plate.
“His fastball plays better than the velocity says, but (Indians coaches) are trying to get him to work on getting his fastball down so he can spin his breaking ball off of that, the same window, then elevate for effect, not just live up here.”
James Karinchak pitched a scoreless eighth, recording a strikeout and Emmanuel Clase finished the ninth by getting Hunter Dozier to hit into a double play and striking out O’Hearn.
Asked to put the four-game sweep in perspective, Francona said he’s already moving on to the next series.
“I moved on from last night, last night,” he said. “That’s the most productive way to be good. I know it was a good trip. But we’ve got to move on.”
Next: The Indians return to Progressive Field to open a three-game weekend series against Cincinnati. Right-hander Zach Plesac (2-3, 4.78) will start for Cleveland while lefty Wade Miley (3-2, 2.67) takes the mound for the Reds. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. The game will air on Bally Sports Great Lakes, WTAM 1100 AM, WMMS 100.7 FM and the Indians Radio Network.
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