Bruce Chen and Aaron Crow get Bombed in Loss

Jul 27, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals pitching coach Dave Eiland (58) talks with pitcher Bruce Chen (52) against the Cleveland Indians during the fifth inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Indians broke the Kansas City Royals’ 5-game winning streak by slamming 4 home runs against Bruce Chen and Aaron Crow on their way to a 10-3 victory Sunday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

Bruce Chen gave up 2 of the bombs, with the other 2 coming off reliever Aaron Crow.

The Royals fell back to 2 games over .500 at 53-51, but remain 5 games behind Detroit in the American League Central. Kansas City is not 1.5 games ahead of Cleveland in 2nd place.

On the Mound

Bruce Chen sailed through the first 3 innings without allowing a run, but then he gave up 1, 4, and 1 run. Overall, Chen went 5.0 innings, giving up 8 hits, 2 walks, and 6 earned runs with 1 strikeout. Chen took the loss (2-3).

Chen pitched to 1 batter in the 6th, giving up a 425-ft moon shot to Yan Gomes. Jason Frasor then entered the game and pitched a clean 6th, with 2 strikeouts.

Francisley Bueno allowed 4 hits in the 7th, with 1 earned run.

Aaron Crow imploded to allowed 3 hits, 2 home runs and 3 earned runs in the 9th.

At the Plate

The Royals staked Bruce Chen to a quick 2-0 lead with single runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings. Chen, however, could not make the lead stand up. Overall, KC hitters produced 8 hits, but drew 0 walks, and scored 3 runs.

Billy Butler continued to smoke the ball, going 3-4, with 2 singles, a double, 1 run scored, and 1 RBI.

The only other Royal with more than 1 hit was Nori Aoki, who hit leadoff. Aoki was 2-4, with the team’s other extra-base hit with a double, a single, and 1 run scored.

This and That

Kansas City’s home record dipped below .500 once more at 25-26 with the loss.

1B Carlos Santana hit 5 home runs in the series against KC with 2 more bombs Sunday afternoon. Santana was a nightmare for Royals pitchers in the series. I can’t fathom why Ned Yost allowed his pitchers to give Santana anything to hit after watching hiim clobber the ball the first three games.

Bruce Chen picked former Royal Mike Aviles off 1st base to end the 3rd inning. The pickoff was Chen’s 45th of his career, which ranks 3rd among all active pitchers.

KC Kingdom Player of the Game

For the 3rd game in a row, I’m going with the red-hot Billy Butler. While he hasn’t shown the power of Carlos Santana, playing in the field has seemed to reawaken Billy’s bat. Maybe Nedster needs to give Billy a little more glove time—even through Hosmer is a gold-glove defender at 1st.

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• Billy Butler – 5
• Francisley Bueno
• Danny Valencia
• Christian ColFon
• Raul Ibanez
• Jarrod Dyson – 2
• Lorenzo Cain – 6
• Johnny Giavotella
• Wade Davis
• Norichika Aoki – 2
• Salvador Perez – 6
• Jeremy Guthrie  –
• Jason Vargas – 6
• Alex Gordon – 10
• Bruce Chen7
• James Shields – 8
• Yordano Ventura – 4
• Danny Duffy – 7
• Omar Infante – 4
• Mike Moustakas – 8
• Alcides Escobar – 5
• Eric Hosmer – 12
• Michael Mariott

The Indians

Carlos Santana went 3-3, with two home runs (20), a single, 1 walk, 1 HBP, 2 runs scored, with 4 RBI’s. Overall, Santana reached base 5 times on Sunday without making an out.

Up Next

The Royals enjoy and off-day on Monday, before taking on the Twins on Tuesday in KC. The Royals will send James Shields (9-5, 3.58 ERA) to the mound against Kyle Gibson (8-8, 4.19 ERA) for Minnesota. Game time is 7:10 PM CST at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

Box

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.

2B: M Brantley (27, off A Crow).
HR: C Santana 2 (20, 1 off B Chen, 5th inn, 1 on, 2 outs to Deep RF Line, 1 off A Crow, 9th inn, 1 on, 0 outs to Deep RF); R Raburn (3, off B Chen, 6th inn, 0 on, 0 outs to Deep CF); Y Gomes (14, off A Crow, 9th inn, 0 on, 0 outs to Deep LF-CF).
SF: M Brantley (4, off B Chen).
SH: M Aviles (7, off B Chen).
HBP: C Santana (3, by B Chen); M Aviles (1, by J Frasor).
TB: C Santana 9; Y Gomes 6; R Raburn 4; M Brantley 3; A Cabrera 2; N Swisher; J Ramirez; R Perez; C Dickerson.
GIDP: C Dickerson (1); Y Gomes (9).
RBI: C Santana 4 (50); Y Gomes 2 (42); A Cabrera (40); R Raburn (19); N Swisher (41); M Brantley (65).
2-out RBI: C Santana 2; N Swisher.
Team LOB: 7.
With RISP: 5 for 11.
Baserunning
SB: M Aviles (10, 2nd base off J Frasor/B Hayes).
CS: M Aviles (4, 2nd base by B Chen POCS).

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.

2B: N Aoki (14, off D Salazar); B Butler (21, off D Salazar).
SF: A Gordon (3, off D Salazar).
TB: B Butler 4; N Aoki 3; A Gordon; B Hayes; J Dyson.
RBI: A Gordon (46); J Dyson (14); B Butler (41).
2-out RBI: B Butler; J Dyson.
Team LOB: 5.
With RISP: 1 for 4.
Fielding
DP: 2. A Escobar-O Infante-B Butler; O Infante-A Escobar-B Butler.

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.

Balks: None.
WP: None.
HBP: B Chen (1; C Santana); J Frasor (2; M Aviles).
IBB: None.
Pickoffs: B Chen (1; M Aviles, 2nd base (CS)).