Christian Colon and Yordano Ventura lead Royals to Win

. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

Yordano Ventura‘s 8 shutout innings, and Christian Colon‘s 3 extra-base hits helped the Royals offense hang 7 runs on the Indians in Kansas City’s 7-1 win over Cleveland Friday afternoon.

The fireworks began for Kansas City with Colon’s triple in the 3rd inning, and ended in the 9th inning on a Cleveland error on Billy Butler‘s ground ball. In between, Christian Colon piled up a triple and 2 doubles, and Mike Moustakas pounded a 3-run home run to stake Kansas City to a comfortable 7-0 lead.

Ventura opened the 9th in a bid to get the first complete-game shutout of his career, but gave up a home run to Michael Brantley to lead off the 9th.

The win leaves the Royals 45-40 on the season. Kansas City gained a game on Detroit to pull within 4 games of 1st place in the American League Central.

On the Mound

Ventura was impressive, going 8.1 innings while allowing 6 hits, 2 walks, 1 earned run with 4 strikeouts. He has been much more pitch-efficient than in his debut last season—including on Friday—where he had a legit shot at a complete game.

Aaron Crow finished off the last two outs of the game, recording 1 strikeout.

At the Plate

Overall, the Royals smacked 12 hits—with 5 going for extra bases.

Christian Colon led the way after getting the start at 2nd base due to Omar Infante‘s stiff back. Colon went 3-4 in his debut in the starting lineup, with a triple, 2 doubles, 3 runs scored, and 1 RBI.

Mike Moustakas had the big blow, going 2-4, with a home run (9), single, 2 runs scored, and 3 RBI’s.  His home run the 6th broke open what had been a tight game to give the Royals a 5-0 lead.

Lorenzo Cain drove in the Royals first two runs by following Colon’s first two extra-base hits with a single and double. Cain finished the game 2-4, with 2 RBI’s.

Salvador Perez also contributed 3 singles in 4 ABs along with 1 run scored.

This and That

The Royals supported Ventura with some good defense. In the 5th inning, the defense recorded outs on two consecutive outstanding plays.

First Eric Hosmer laid out to his right to catch Lonnie Chisenhall‘s soft liner to record the 1st out of the inning. Then, Raul Ibanez made a sliding catch on Nick Swisher‘s liner in right field.

The Royals have now won 5 of their last 7 games, following a 1-6 week. The recent turn-around has helped them keep in contact with the red-hot Tigers.

KC Kingdom Player of the Game

While Ventura was dominant, I have to go with Christian Colon. Not only did he get his first 3 major-league hits in his 1st major-league start, he also piled up his 1st RBI. Colon could provide some much-needed production off the bench if he can keep hitting.

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• Billy Butler – 2
• Christian Colon
• Raul Ibanez
• Jarrod Dyson – 2
• Lorenzo Cain – 5
• Johnny Giavotella
• Wade Davis
• Norichika Aoki
• Salvador Perez – 5
• Jeremy Guthrie  – 5
• Jason Vargas – 6
• Alex Gordon – 9
• Bruce Chen
• James Shields – 6
• Yordano Ventura – 4
• Mike Moustakas
• Danny Duffy – 6
• Omar Infante – 3
• Mike Moustakas – 4,
• Alcides Escobar – 5
• Eric Hosmer – 9
• Michael Mariot

The Indians

Michael Brantley was pretty much the offensive story for the Indians, going 2-4 with a single, solo home run (13), 1 run scored, and 1 RBI. CF Michael Bourn had a good game with double in 4 ABs, and a nice diving catch that probably saved a run in the 4th inning with a runner on 1st base. If Bourn misses on the dive, the ball might have rolled a long way behind him.

Up Next

The Royals continue their series against the Indians Saturday night. Kansas City will send Jeremy Guthrie (5-6, 3.69 ERA) to the hill against Cleveland’s T.J. House (0-2, 4.28 ERA). Game time is 6:05 CST at Jacobs Field in Cleveland.

Box

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

2B: C Colon 2 (2, 1 off J Tomlin, 1 off J Axford); L Cain (15, off J Tomlin).
3B: C Colon (1, off J Tomlin).
HR: M Moustakas (9, off J Tomlin, 6th inn, 2 on, 2 outs to Deep RF).
HBP: L Cain (3, by J Axford).
TB: C Colon 7; M Moustakas 5; S Perez 3; L Cain 3; E Hosmer; A Escobar.
RBI: M Moustakas 3 (34); L Cain 2 (37); C Colon (1).
2-out RBI: M Moustakas 3.
Team LOB: 6.
With RISP: 4 for 10.
Fielding
DP: 1. C Colon-A Escobar-E Hosmer.
Baserunning
CS: L Cain (3, 3rd base by J Tomlin/Y Gomes).

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

2B: M Bourn (9, off Y Ventura).
HR: M Brantley (13, off Y Ventura, 9th inn, 0 on, 0 outs to Deep RF).
TB: M Brantley 5; J Kipnis 2; M Bourn 2; C Santana.
GIDP: J Kipnis (6).
RBI: M Brantley (55).
Team LOB: 6.
With RISP: 0 for 3.
Fielding
DP: 1. Y Gomes-L Chisenhall.
PB: Y Gomes (5).
E: L Chisenhall (11).

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/5/2014.

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

Balks: None.
WP: J Tomlin (5).
HBP: J Axford (1; L Cain).
IBB: None.
Pickoffs: None.