CLEVELAND (AP)– Mike Moustakas has done well throughout his career against Corey Kluber. Even so, beating the AL Cy Young Award winner was quite an accomplishment.
Moustakas got four hits, Alex Gordon drove in two runs and the Kansas City Royals kept Kluber winless this season, topping the Cleveland Indians 6-2.
Kluber (0-3) gave up six runs, four of them earned, and 10 hits in 6 1/3 innings. After going 18-9 last year, he hasn’t won in five starts and has a 4.24 ERA.
“He’s one of the best pitchers in the game, if not the best pitcher in the game,” Moustakas said. “We came away with a win against a great pitcher.”
Gordon had a go-ahead double in the sixth. Moustakas added an RBI single in the seventh, and is 11 for 25 lifetime against Kluber.
Despite those numbers, Moustakas has no explanation for his success.
“That’s one of those things that happens in baseball,” he said. “Against a guy like that, every at-bat is tough. You just hope he makes a mistake or what you think is a mistake, but that guy doesn’t make many mistakes.”
The Indians committed a season-high three errors and have lost seven of 10.
Jason Vargas (2-1) allowed two runs in five innings. The left-hander, who pitched around five walks, gave up a two-run homer to Mike Aviles in the fifth.
Kluber recorded his 500th career strikeout when he whiffed Lorenzo Cain in the sixth. The right-hander struck out five and walked two.
Errors by shortstop Jose Ramirez and Aviles, playing third base, helped Kansas City score twice.
Eric Hosmer, who had an RBI single in the third, drew a leadoff walk to start the sixth. He took third on Kendrys Morales’ single before Gordon dropped a double near the line in left field for a 3-2 lead.
“You don’t want to give in to a guy like Kluber until you get to two strikes,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “You got to get into battle mode and put a good swing on it like Moose did all night long and Gordie, too.”
The win ended a two-game losing streak for the Royals, who are 13-6 after coming within one game of winning the World Series last season.
“Teams can go one of two ways when they get a taste of winning,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “You can go on the banquet circuit and kind of dig yourself or you can come back with a `Hey, we got there and we want to do it again.’ They seem to be in that mode. I wish they weren’t.”
Kansas City’s Jarrod Dyson stole three bases, his first of the season.
The gametime temperature of 44 degrees, along with 13 mph winds, forced many in the crowd of 9,668 to bundle up in wintertime clothing.
