Cleveland 3, Kansas City 0
When: 7:10 PM ET, Friday, July 7, 2023
Where: Progressive Field, Cleveland, Ohio
Temperature:
75°
Umpires:
Home -
Brennan Miller, 1B -
Derek Thomas, 2B -
Randy Rosenberg, 3B -
Jordan Baker
Attendance:
29990
By Field Level Media
Aaron Civale scattered two hits and struck out a season-high nine batters over seven innings to fuel the host Cleveland Guardians to a 3-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Friday.
Josh Bell belted a two-run homer and Josh Naylor had an RBI single among his two hits for the Guardians, who have won five of their last seven games. Cleveland (44-44) moved to .500 on the season for the first time since it was 13-13 on April 28.
Civale (3-2) did not walk a batter en route to recording his first win since June 8.
Trevor Stephan struck out one batter and did not surrender a hit in the eighth inning. Emmanuel Clase worked around a one-out walk in the ninth to secure his 25th save of the season.
The Guardians announced earlier on Friday that Clase will miss the upcoming All-Star Game in order to be with his significant other, who is expecting a baby. Los Angeles Angels right-hander Carlos Estevez will replace Clase on that roster.
Bobby Witt Jr. ripped a double in the fourth inning and MJ Melendez did the same in the fifth for the Royals, who have lost five in a row.
Amed Rosario had a one-out double in the first inning and came around to score on Naylor's single up the middle to give Cleveland a 1-0 lead. The Guardians attempted to extend their advantage later in the inning, but Jose Ramirez was thrown out at home on a fielder's choice by Bell.
Cleveland flexed its muscle in the fourth as Naylor singled to lead off the inning before Bell deposited a first-pitch fastball from Daniel Lynch (2-4) over the wall in left field. Bell's homer was his ninth of the season and first since he launched a two-run shot in the Guardians' 14-1 romp in Kansas City on June 28.
Lynch permitted three runs on six hits in six innings to fall to 0-4 in six career starts against Cleveland.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
Kansas City
|
2 |
0 |
4 |
.071 |
5 |
10 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
Cleveland
|
6 |
1 |
11 |
.200 |
6 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |