The winning streak is over and the 100th loss is a reality for the Royals. After losing their 99th game of the year on Sunday, they took four straight from the Tigers this week, in hopes of avoiding their third 100-loss season in the last four years. Their luck ran out Thursday with an 11-6 defeat at the hands of the red-hot Indians.
The Royals seemed to pull another rabbit out of their hat, when Mark Teahen erased a 5-1 lead with a grand slam in the fourth inning. It was his fifth homer of the year.
Andres Blanco gave Kansas City a 6-5 lead in the sixth, with a sacrifice fly to score Justin Huber.
That lead went away in the seventh inning when Coco Crisp ripped a two-run homer off reliever Andy Sisco to give the Indians a 7-6 lead. Cleveland added four more runs over the final two innings to pull away.
Sisco (2-4) was charged with the loss. The Indians, which have won 15-of-17, are just a game-and-a-half behind the White Sox for the A.L. Central lead.
The Royals are now 52-100 with ten games remaining. Their task now is to avoid the franchise record for defeats, which was set last year when the team lost 104 games. 2002, 2004 and 2005 are the only 100-loss seasons in franchise history.
