CLEVELAND (AP)– While Francisco Lindor makes a late run for AL Rookie of the Year, he might be accomplishing something even more important for the Cleveland Indians.
“He keeps getting better and better,” manager Terry Francona said. “He’s impacting games almost every night.”
Lindor was 3 for 4 with a home run and four RBI, and also made an outstanding defensive play at shortstop to help the Indians beat the Kansas City Royals 5-1 Wednesday night.
The win also helped Cleveland remain in contention for the Amercan League’s second wild-card spot.
“It’s fun to watch,” Francona said. “For him to impact games the way he has is pretty special.”
Lindor downplayed his night, saying, “It felt great. We won. That’s the biggest thing.”
Danny Salazar (13-8) took a three-hit shutout into the seventh before Mike Moustakas started the inning with a home run. The right-hander allowed one run and struck out six in seven innings as the Indians (72-72) got back to .500.
Danny Duffy (7-8) allowed four runs in 2 1/3 innings for Kansas City, which has dropped nine of 12.
Lindor, who matched his career high in hits and RBI, had a solo homer in the first for his 100th hit since being called up from the minors on June 14. He added a two-run single in the second and an RBI single in the fourth, but the moment that meant the most to him may have come the following inning.
Lindor impacted the game defensively in the fifth. He dove to his left to come up with Alex Rios’ ground ball and made a one-hop throw to first from his knees for the out. He showed his ever-present smile after the play as he watched the scoreboard replay.
“It looked great,” he said. “I’ve never been a fan of a guy who makes a great play and acts like he’s done it 10,000 times. Smile, man. That’s what we play for.”
Duffy was impressed.
“I honestly think Lindor has already arrived,” he said. He’s going to be a heck of a player.”
Lindor drove a 1-0 pitch several rows deep in the left-field bleachers in the first. Following Jason Kipnis’ RBI single in the second, the switch-hitter punched a hit through the right side for a 4-0 lead.
Lindor’s first two hits came from the right side against the left-handed Duffy. His fourth-inning single was off right-hander Jeremy Guthrie. Lindor, 21, was Cleveland’s first draft pick in 2011, No. 8 overall. He began the season at Triple-A Columbus.
Cleveland is four games behind Houston, but also trailed Minnesota and Los Angeles in the wild-card race.
Kansas City was a season-high 31 games over .500 (82-51) on Sept. 3 before its recent rough stretch. The Royals were still 10 games ahead of Minnesota in the AL Central.
