Royals beat Guardians and take first place

CLEVELAND — Paul DeJong hit a two-run home run and the Kansas City Royals passed Cleveland atop the AL Central by defeating the Guardians 6-1 on Tuesday night. The game was delayed more than two hours because of rain.

The Royals, who lost 106 games last season, improved to a league-best 23-13 record since the All-Star break, when they trailed the Guardians by seven games.

Cleveland had been alone in first place in the division since April 14 before losing the first three games of this series, which ends with a matinee on Wednesday. The Guardians have lost nine of 12 games and are just 17-21 since the break.

DeJong scored in the second inning against Gavin Williams (2-7), and the Royals scored three runs in the seventh inning against Scott Barlow on RBI singles by Maikel Garcia and Michael Massey and a wild pitch.

James McArthur (5-5) struck out four times in two innings and the Royals’ solid bullpen finished with five perfect innings in the combined three-hitter.

Kansas City’s victory came with a bit of a shock.

All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. was hit in the right hand by a pitch from Pedro Avila in the seventh inning. Witt clutched his arm in pain, but the majors’ leader in average, hits and runs stayed in the game and hit a double in the ninth inning.

Cleveland was just getting ready to bat in the fifth inning — and had three outs left before the game was officially over — when the ballpark’s groundskeeping crew rolled out the tarp to cover the infield at 8:06 p.m. before the rain started to fall.

When the time finally came and lightning flashed across the sky above Progressive Field, fans sought shelter indoors. The game was postponed for 2 hours and 14 minutes before resuming at 10:20 p.m. with several thousand diehard fans in attendance.

DeJong’s fifth home run since joining the Royals from the White Sox on July 30th brought the score to 2-0 in the second inning.

Salvador Perez led off with a single, and one out later, DeJong hit Williams’ first pitch over the wall in right-center field. DeJong also hit a home run in Monday’s doubleheader sweep and has hit 23 home runs this season.

Royals starter Mchael Lorenzen left the field in the second inning after straining his left thigh while covering first base.

With two runners on base, Lorenzen got rookie Daniel Schneemann to hit a grounder to first base. The right-hander ran to get the bag, threw the relay throw from second base, then sat down in the dirt.

Lorenzen slowly got up and walked to the mound before throwing several warm-up pitches as manager Matt Quatraro and a trainer watched. He stayed in the game and struck out Thomas.

However, after Lorenzen threw a ball to Bo Naylor, Perez signaled to the dugout from behind the plate.

TRAINING ROOM

Royals: OF Hunter Renfroe (right hamstring strain) continues to receive treatment and Quatraro said the hope is to “get him back on the field as soon as possible.” Renfroe was placed on the 10-day injured list on Sunday after his leg tightened against Philadelphia.

Guardians: RHP Alex Cobb (broken fingernail) threw three simulated innings in a live batting practice against minor league players before the game. Cobb can come off the injured list on Sunday. Manager Stephen Vogt said the team is still considering whether to send him to a minor league rehab assignment.

Next

Guardians RHP Tanner Bibee (10-6, 3.46 ERA) starts the series finale against Royals RHP Michael Wacha (11-6, 3.23 ERA), who is 7-0 with a 2.40 ERA in 10 starts since June 22.