The Kansas City Royals win the opener of a three-game series against the American League Central Division leading Cleveland Indians, edging the Tribe 4-3 at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday.
Cleveland jumped on the board first with a two-run homer by Victor Martinez in the 1 st inning, but Royals’ pitching held the Indians scoreless after that until the 5 th inning when Cleveland scored what would be its final run of the night. Kansas City got one back in the 5 th , then tied the game on a Mike Sweeney two-run shot, his sixth homer of the year, off Cleveland starter Fausto Carmona, who was not involved in the decision.
Kansas City moved ahead to stay with a run off reliever and losing pitcher Tom Mastny (3-2) in the 7 th . Zack Greinke (2-4) pitched 1 1/3 innings for the win. Joakim Soria pitched the 9 th inning to earn his tenth save.
The Royals (18-28) and Indians (27-16) play again Wednesday night at the K. Scott Elarton (1-0) pitches for Kansas City against Cleveland’s Cliff Lee (2-0).
