Shin-Soo Choo and Jason Kipnis knocked in two runs apiece as the Cleveland Indians downed the Kansas City Royals, 8-3, in the opener of a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium.
Asdrubal Cabrera added a home run, while Derek Lowe (2-0) scattered 11 hits and three runs in 6 2/3 innings to earn the win.
Luke Hochevar (1-1) got the start for Kansas City and gave up seven runs on nine hits and a walk through four innings, but took a Carlos Santana line drive off his left leg during the final out of the fourth and did not return for the fifth.
Cleveland jumped all over the Royals in the first inning after Michael Brantley led off the contest with a single that was followed by a double into the right-field corner by Cabrera to place runners on second and third.
Choo stepped up next and pulled a base hit through the right side of the infield that plated Brantley and Cabrera. Choo later stole second and came home on Shelley Duncan’s bloop single into shallow right field.
After Casey Kotchman followed with a base hit to right, Kipnis smacked a ball into deep center field that Jarrod Dyson lost track of for a two-run triple. Jack Hannahan added an RBI single before rounding the bases on Brantley’s double to spot the Indians a seven-run advantage.
Kansas City got a run back in the bottom of the frame when Dyson, Jeff Francoeur and Eric Hosmer hit consecutive singles to bring home Dyson, but Billy Butler followed by grounding into a 4-6-3 double play and Alex Gordon struck out to keep it a 7-1 game.
An RBI base hit by Gordon and a run-scoring double by Mike Moustakas in the fourth inning closed the gap to 7-3, but the Royals got no closer, stranding tow runners in the sixth, runners on second and third in the seventh, and a man on second in the eighth.