Luis Mendoza picked up his first win of the year, going five plus innings and a three-run fifth inning proved the difference as the Royals beat Cleveland for the second day in a row, 4-2 the final Thursday afternoon. Mendoza (1-2) was pulled with the bases loaded and no outs in the sixth, but the Indians scored only one run on Travis Hafner’s sacrifice fly. Relievers Tim Collins, Aaron Crow and Jonathan Broxton held Cleveland the last four innings. Broxton pitched the ninth for his second save.
In the fifth, The Royals broke a 1-1 game on consecutive two-out hits by Jeff Francoeur, Mike Moustakas and Brayan Pena. Alex Gordon, who was batting .167, before this two game winning streak had two hits and walk and raised his average to .213 the last two games. Billy Butler had two hits and was hit by a pitch.
