CLEVELAND (AP) — Mike Napoli’s sacrifice fly scored Francisco Lindor with the winning run to cap a two-run ninth inning and the Cleveland Indians defeated the Kansas City Royals 5-4 on Thursday night.
Cleveland rallied against Joakim Soria (2-2), filling in as closer for Wade Davis, who had pitched three of the last four days. Lindor’s triple tied the game before Napoli scored the game winner.
The loss ended Kansas City’s six-game winning streak.
Carlos Santana led off the Cleveland ninth with a single and made it to second on right fielder Paulo Orlando’s fielding error. After Jason Kipnis’ sacrifice, Lindor hit a line drive to right.
Orlando attempted a diving catch but the ball rolled to the wall. Pinch-runner Michael Martinez scored and Lindor slid headfirst into third with a triple.
Napoli’s fly ball to left was deep enough to score Lindor, who dived into home plate to give Cleveland its second straight walkoff win.
Tommy Hunter (2-1) pitched 1 2/3 innings.
Drew Butera and Cheslor Cuthbert homered for the Royals, who appeared on the verge of winning for the ninth time in 10 games. Jarrod Dyson’s fourth-inning single broke a 3-all tie.
Yordano Ventura allowed two runs in seven innings.
Carlos Carrasco (2-1) allowed three runs over five innings in his first appearance since April 24, when he strained his left hamstring covering first base. He was activated from the 15-day disabled list before the game.
Butera hit his second career homer following Dyson’s single in the third. Cuthbert hit a one-out homer off Austin Adams in the sixth.
Lonnie Chisenhall, Jose Ramirez and Tyler Naquin also drove in runs for Cleveland. Lindor broke an 0-for-13 slump with an infield hit in the third.