Travis Hafner hit his 15 th home run, a 2-run shot in the bottom of the 1 st inning, to pace the Cleveland Indians to a 5-3 win over the Kansas City Royals Sunday afternoon at Jacobs Field in Cleveland. The win gives the Tribe two of the three games played in the weekend series.
Ryan Garko added his 11 th home run for the Indians, a solo blast in the 4 th inning. Recently acquired Jason Smith belted his 1 st home run for the Royals, a solo homer in the 8 th inning.
Indians’ starter Fausto Carmona (11-4) pitched 7 innings, allowing 2 earned runs on 8 hits to earn the win. Joe Borowski picked up his 26 th save. Kansas City starter and losing pitcher Jorge De La Rosa (7-10) was taken out of the game with a bruised left thumb after pitching 3 1/3 innings, giving up 3 earned runs on 2 hits.
The Royals (39-52) head to Boston to take on the Red Sox Monday night at Fenway Park. Brian Bannister (5-5) pitches for Kansas City against BoSox southpaw Kason Gabbard (2-0).