There was no late-inning magic for the Royals this time around.
The Indians, who gave up seven runs in the eighth inning on Monday night in a loss, took a commanding six-run lead through five innings on Tuesday night en route to a 7-3 win at Kauffman Stadium.
“Coming on the heels of last night [a 7-3 loss], it was nice,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “We needed a bounceback win.”
Mike Napoli blasted a two-run homer in the first, his 21st, and red-hot Carlos Santana delivered a two-run single to help starter Danny Salazar notch his 11th win this season. Francisco Lindor scored three runs, knocked in two, belted his 12th homer in the ninth and made a spectacular defensive play up the middle in the final half-inning.
“Just real impressed with Lindor,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He’s just a fantastically talented young man. Both sides of the ball, offensively and defensively, left, right. He’s just good.”
Salazar sat out the All-Star Game due to mild elbow soreness, though it didn’t appear to be serious at the time and he proved on Tuesday it wasn’t. He gave up just two earned runs through 6 2/3 innings while giving up eight hits. He walked one and struck out seven.
Left-hander Brian Flynn made his first start as a Royal, but couldn’t make it out of the third inning. He gave up four hits and three runs through 2 1/3.
The Indians increased their lead in the American League Central to 6 1/2 games over the Tigers and 8 over the Royals.
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