Corey Kluber approached the mound in the third inning looking poised and confident.
There was reason to be — he had just disposed of the Royals in the first two innings using just 17 pitches, and the Indians ace dealing did not bode well for Kansas City and its hapless offense.
But after a few dinks and dunks and a massive defensive flub, Kluber and the Indians found themselves in a 4-0 third-inning hole, one they could not dig out of.
Cleveland fell for just the second time in its last 11 games after the Royals started a two-game series at Kauffman Stadium, with a 9-5 victory Tuesday.
Kluber, who brought MLB’s fourth-highest strikeout total into the game, allowed a season-high six runs (three earned) in five innings.
“I thought [Kluber] went into the game [with] really good stuff,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “The line’s probably not indicative of the stuff he had.”
The damage came from two innings, as the Royals tallied four in the third, then two in the fifth. Kluber threw 51 pitches in the two innings he allowed runs. His other three innings required just 27.
“I wasn’t at my best, but I think I did a decent enough job of making good pitches when I needed to, unfortunately there were a couple times where some soft hits, things like that, fell in,” Kluber said.
Kluber’s adversary, Jason Vargas, tamed an Indians offense that broke out for 17 runs Monday against the Rangers. He threw 7 2/3 innings of three-run ball, scattering six hits and walking zero.
Cleveland was unable to make Vargas uncomfortable until his final inning.
For Vargas’ first seven innings, the Indians failed to board two runners in the same frame.
In the eighth, Jason Kipnis slugged a two-run double off Vargas, and Carlos Santana added an RBI single with KC’s starter removed from the game.
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