CLEVELAND (AP) Ubaldo Jimenez struck out 10 in seven innings and Asdrubal Cabrera, Yan Gomes and Carlos Santana each hit solo homers, leading the Cleveland Indians to a 4-3 win over the Kansas City Royals on Monday night in a matchup between two teams in the thick of the AL wild-card chase.
The Indians, who won despite having only five hits, stayed even with Baltimore, 1.5 games back of Tampa Bay for the second wild-card spot. The Royals dropped to four games behind the Rays.
Jimenez (11-9) allowed one unearned run and didn’t walk a batter. The right-hander left with a 4-1 lead after throwing 99 pitches, but Alex Gordon hit a two-run homer off Cody Allen in the eighth.
Chris Perez survived a shaky ninth for his 23rd save, retiring Gordon on a fly ball with the bases loaded to end the game. The Indians have won six of eight.
First pitch is at 6:05pm on Tuesday night in Cleveland for Game two between the Royals and Indians. NewsRadio 1350 KMAN will join the game in progress after K-State volleyball.
