KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Salvador Perez hit a two-run homer with two outs in the eighth inning, and the Kansas City Royals held on through a shaky ninth to beat the Cleveland Indians 3-2 on Tuesday night.
Joakim Soria (3-2) pitched a scoreless eighth inning for Kansas City, then proceeded to handle the ninth with setup man Kelvin Herrera and closer Wade Davis resting after having each pitched the last three days.
Soria got Jason Kipnis to pop out with runners on first and second to end it.
Unable to solve Josh Tomlin most of the night, the Royals finally took the lead off Bryan Shaw (0-3), who gave up a single to Eric Hosmer before Perez deposited a pitch 402 feet away in left field.
It ended a bizarre streak of 11 consecutive Royals homers of the solo variety.
The comeback scuttled a solid performance by Tomlin, who allowed seven hits while striking out five without a walk. He exited with a 2-1 lead and in line to beat Kansas City for the third time this season.
Whit Merrifield also went deep for the Royals, winners of four straight after an eight-game skid.
The Indians took their first lead of the series when Carlos Santana homered in the third, his 13th of the year. It was also the AL-leading 18th that Chris Young had allowed.
Merrifield matched it in the bottom half, the 27-year-old rookie sending a 2-2 pitch over the left-field wall. His second career homer came 24 hours after his first.
Young continued to struggle with his command in the fifth, walking two more batters to exceed his 85-pitch limit. Dillon Gee entered in relief and Kipnis promptly swatted the second pitch he saw for an RBI single that gave Cleveland a 2-1 lead.
The Royals had a chance to tie it in the seventh when pinch hitter Paulo Orlando slapped a single and Cheslor Cuthbert sacrificed him to second, but Jarrod Dyson and Merrifield were unable to get him home.
Perez made it a forgotten point with his big hit in the eighth.
STAKING A CLAIM
The Royals claimed LHP Tyler Olson off waivers from the Yankees and assigned him to Triple-A Omaha, and created roster space by transferring 3B Mike Moustakas (ACL) to the 60-day DL.
Olson has spent most of the season in the minors, though he did throw 2 2/3 innings of relief for New York in April.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Royals: 3B Moustakas stopped in the clubhouse after surgery to repair a torn right ACL. He has already started rehabbed, most of which will take place in Florida. “It’s not fun to sit there and watch and not be out there,” he said, “but my job is to get better and get ready for next season.”
Indians: 3B Juan Uribe was feeling better after sustaining a testicular contusion Sunday against the Angels. He remained out of the lineup, though manager Terry Francona said Uribe did all pregame work.
UP NEXT
Indians RHP Corey Kluber tries to build on a complete-game victory over the Angels in the series finale Wednesday night. RHP Ian Kennedy is on the mound for Kansas City.
