The Kansas City Royals were beaten soundly in the series finale against the Cleveland Indians on Sunday, losing 10-3 at Kauffman Stadium.
Cleveland hitters combined to hit four homers against the Royals, including two from Carlos Santana, one coming from each side of the plate. Santana's first home run came in the fifth. The Indians had already scored two runs in the inning against Bruce Chen thanks to singles by Roberto Perez, Jose Ramirez and Asdrubal Cabrera, as well as a sacrifice bunt by Mike Aviles and a Michael Brantley sacrifice fly.
Santana came to the plate with on one and two out, and connected on a Chen offering that caught too much of the plate. He drove the ball the opposite way, and it just stayed fair down the right field line, giving the Indians a four-run inning and a 5-2 advantage.
Chen, who had been mostly effective the first two times through the order, came back out for the sixth inning to face Ryan Raburn for reasons completely unclear to me. Raburn specializes in hitting lefties, Chen isn't exactly overpowering, had already thrown over 100 pitches and had just given up four runs in the previous inning. Raburn promptly hit a solo home run to start the sixth inning, then Ned Yost decided it was time to remove Bruce Chen.
The Royals weren't winning today even if Yost pulls Chen immediately after the fifth, but the decision not to is incredibly mind-boggling.
Cleveland's final two home runs came in the ninth against Aaron Crow. Santana crushed a high fastball, this time from the left side of the plate, for a two-run jack. Yan Gomes followed with a solo offering, just for kicks.
The Royals offense didn't look particularly impressive against Indians starter Danny Salazar. Salazar worked seven innings, only allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out seven. More impressive (or depressing, depending on your point of view) is that Salazar did not issue any walks, only the second time he's accomplished that feat in his 20 MLB starts.
Billy Butler did continue his impressive hitting tear, going 3-for-4 with a double and a RBI. Norichika Aoki collected a pair of hits, but also looked less than impressive in right field again, much to no one's surprise.
The Royals, now 53-51 on the year, will have an off day Monday before starting a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins. James Shields will take the mound for Kansas City, facing Kyle Gibson.