Justin Masterson earns his fifth win as Cleveland Indians beat Kansas City Royals 9-4 – MLB Update
The Cleveland Indians returned to their winning form as Justin Masterson won the fifth game of the season to help the club surge past the Kansas City Royals 9-4 at Progressive Field on Tuesday.
The victory will serve as a confidence builder for the Indians after a humiliating 2-0 defeat at the hands of Minnesota Twins.
The game remained in a seesaw situation until the bottom of the seventh inning when Shin-Soo Choo hit a three run shot to ensure the Indians’ grip over the game. Grady Sizemore then hit a two run homer in the eighth inning to further strengthen the lead.
Jack Hannahan was the dominant contributor in Cleveland’s total with his two home runs.
Masterson used his sinkers with perfection that got seven hitters struck-out. Masterson’s season stats are the complete reverse of what happened last year when he went 0-5 at the start of the season. His first win last year came after 17 innings. His poor
performance last year contributed to the Indians looking quite awful. This year, Masterson looks awesome and the Indians are in good shape.
The Indians, who finished fourth last season, were showing hints that they would finish at the bottom once again. However against all the odds, the Indians had emerged to be Number 1 on the table in the American League Central Zone. Their batting has not
been consistent but that was overshadowed by some organised pitching from the rotation.
"It's not the same guy doing it every time," Masterson said. "It's a different guy, that's what makes this fun. Guys are making plays here, there and everywhere. It's not the same person every time, we're kind of doing it collectively, and it's kind of the
sign of a pretty good team."
Vinnie Pestano is the other important factor in the Indians’ pitching option and once again did his job in saving the game for the Indians. Chris Perez threw the harmless “one-run” ninth inning.
On the other hand, Royals’ starter Luke Hochevar lost his third game of the season with his six runs on 11 hits in six innings. He was withdrawn from the game in the seventh inning when he allowed the Indians’ batter to cover two bases. His reliever Louis
Coleman went for all important homer that cost three runs. Tim Collins was also expensive with two runs in the eighth inning.
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