| SEASON | CAREER |
| W4 | 4 |
| L2 | 3 |
| G10 | 14 |
| IP62.1 | 80.0 |
| BB16 | 23 |
| SO59 | 73 |
| SEASON | CAREER |
| W4 | 10 |
| L7 | 16 |
| G18 | 56 |
| IP92.2 | 191.0 |
| BB40 | 78 |
| SO55 | 105 |
The Kansas City Royals snapped their lengthy skid in emphatic fashion while continuing their recent dominance of the slumping Cleveland Indians the last time they took the field.
The Royals will try to add to that success and register back-to-back wins for the first time in a little more than a month Wednesday night.
Kansas City (42-60) scored all of its runs in Tuesday's series opener in the first three innings while cruising to an 8-3 victory and ending a five-game losing streak. Jarrod Dyson finished a home run shy of the cycle and Alcides Escobar matched a season high with three RBIs.
Escobar's three-hit performance was his 34th multihit game and raised his average to a team-leading .307.
"He's been doing that all year," manager Ned Yost said.
The win was also the Royals' fifth in their past six games against Cleveland, which has dropped four in a row and nine of 12.
The Indians (50-53) will seek to avoid matching their season-high losing streak with help from Zach McAllister (4-2, 3.18 ERA), who has allowed three runs or fewer in each of his last three starts.
The right-hander, though, has received one run of support in each of his past two outings. After losing to Baltimore on July 21, he did not get a decision Thursday in a 5-3 win over Detroit.
In his first start against Kansas City, McAllister will pitch opposite Luis Mendoza (4-7, 4.47), who hasn't gotten too much support during his return to the rotation.
The right-hander is 2-4 with a 3.67 ERA over his last eight starts and has received a combined 13 runs. He's gotten four in each of those wins.
Following a 7-3 victory over Minnesota on July 21, Mendoza lost 4-1 in Seattle on Thursday after giving up four runs and nine hits over five innings.
"He was kind of all over the place," manager Ned Yost told the team's official website. "He really struggled to command the ball down, got pitches up. But the thing about Mendoza is he competes. It was a grind for him out there today."
Mendoza yielded two runs and four hits over five innings during a 4-2 win in Cleveland on April 26. That came 11 days after he gave up a career-high nine runs - five earned - in a 13-7 home defeat to the Indians.
Jason Kipnis is batting .353 (12 for 34) with two home runs and seven RBIs against the Royals this season, while Casey Kotchman is 4 for 6 lifetime against Mendoza.
@
@
AVG
HRRUNSSBSOBBOBPSLGOPS
VS.
| HITTERS | AB | AVG | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | OBP | OPS | SLG |
| Michael Brantley | 6 | .333 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .333 | .666 | .333 |
| Asdrubal Cabrera | 6 | .333 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .666 | .333 |
| Shin-Soo Choo | 3 | .333 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .333 | 1.000 | .667 |
| Aaron Cunningham | 2 | .500 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .500 | 1.000 | .500 |
| Johnny Damon | 4 | .250 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 | .500 | .250 |
| Shelley Duncan | 4 | .250 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | .400 | 1.400 | 1.000 |
| Travis Hafner | 4 | .500 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .600 | 1.850 | 1.250 |
| Jack Hannahan | 7 | .143 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .143 | .286 | .143 |
| Jason Kipnis | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .500 | .500 | .000 |
| Casey Kotchman | 5 | .800 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .857 | 1.857 | 1.000 |
| Jose Lopez | 5 | .400 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .500 | .900 | .400 |
| Lou Marson | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Carlos Santana | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .333 | .333 | .000 |
 Cleveland Indians |
|||
| Date | Player | Status | Injury |
| June 30, 2012 | Lonnie Chisenhall | 60-Day DL | Fractured right ulna - out 4-6 weeks |
| June 29, 2012 | Lonnie Chisenhall | Day-to-Day | Fractured right ulna - out 4-6 weeks |
| June 05, 2012 | Jose Lopez | Day-to-Day | Sore lower back |
| May 27, 2012 | Jack Hannahan | 15-Day DL | Strained left calf |
| May 27, 2012 | Jack Hannahan | 15-Day DL | Strained left calf |
| May 26, 2012 | Carlos Santana | 7-Day DL | Concussion |
 Kansas City Royals |
|||
| Date | Player | Status | Injury |
| July 28, 2012 | Mike Moustakas | Day-to-Day | Left game - sprained right knee |
| July 05, 2012 | Luke Hochevar | Day-to-Day | Sprained right ankle |
| June 18, 2012 | Chris Getz | 15-Day DL | Lateral strain in lower left leg |
| June 18, 2012 | Chris Getz | 15-Day DL | Lateral strain in lower left leg |
| June 07, 2012 | Felipe Paulino | 60-Day DL | Strained right groin |
| May 26, 2012 | Jarrod Dyson | Day-to-Day | Left game - Right hamstring injury |
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Luis Mendoza was the best pitcher in the Pacific Coast League last season. There were doubts if he could parlay that success into the major leagues.
He entered this season with a 6-9 record and 7.36 ERA in 38 games in the majors.
The Kansas City Royals , however, have stuck with the 28-year-old right-hander and are beginning to reap the benefits.
Mendoza pitched into the eighth inning, Lorenzo Cain and Jarrod Dyson stroked two hits each and drove in a run as the Royals beat the Cleveland Indians 5-2 on Wednesday night.
"You can't give up on starting pitching," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "It was the Pacific Coast League, but he was the Pacific Coast League pitcher of the year last year. He went through the entire year as the best pitcher in that league in a hitter's league. So we knew it was there. We knew he had to get his feet underneath him. The more comfortable he got, we felt the better off he would be both for himself and for us. So far that's shown to be true."
The Royals, who have the worst record in the American League (42-61), won consecutive games for the first time since June 27-29.
Mendoza (5-7) limited the Indians to two runs and four hits, only one after the fourth inning, and went 7 1-3 innings to pick up the victory.
"A very, very good outing," Yost said. "He commanded his stuff real well, mixed in his breaking ball good and got us into the eighth inning with very little damage done against us. He was on the attack and kept his pitch count down. He threw an excellent ball game. He had done his job. We didn't want to take any chance of anything building up."
Mendoza, who was 1-3 in his four previous starts, did not throw more than 11 pitches in an inning except for the third when he threw 25.
"My teammates gave me some early runs," Mendoza said. "I'm just happy with this start. That was a good challenge to face a lot of lefties, eight lefties.
"I used the changeup a lot. This time I just tried to throw strike one and get an out as quick as I can, stay aggressive."
The Royals jumped to a 4-0 lead after two innings.
Alcides Escobar walked with one out and stopped at second on Cain's single. On a double steal, catcher Carlos Santana threw the ball into left field, allowing Escobar to score and Cain to take third. Cain, who is hitting .313 since coming off the disabled list, wound up scoring on a groundout by Billy Butler .
In the second inning, Chris Getz walked, stole second and scored on Dyson's single to center. Dyson stole second and scored on Alex Gordon 's major league-leading 37th double.
"My whole objective is to have great at-bats," said Dyson, who is 5-for-7 with three extra-base hits in the first two games of this series. "I go to the plate looking for one pitch and that's the fastball and when I get it I just try to jump on it."
Santana homered in the fourth for the first Indians run.
Jose Mijares replaced Mendoza with one out in the eighth after a double by Jack Hannahan , Mijares hit Shin-Soo Choo with a pitch and gave up a run-producing single to Asdrubal Cabrera .
"Mendoza pitched inside," Indians manager Manny Acta said. "He beat us inside and he had that curveball. He back-doored us with that then busted us inside. He threw the ball well."
Greg Holland , who replaced Jonathan Broxton as the closer after he was traded Tuesday to Cincinnati, worked a spotless ninth for his first save since Sept. 25.
Indians rookie right-hander Zach McAllister (4-3) gave up five runs, five hits and two walks in six innings. The Royals stole four bases off McAllister, who has allowed nine stolen bases without a runner being caught in his 11 starts.
Notes: The Indians placed DH Travis Hafner on the paternity list Wednesday and recalled IF-OF Vinny Rottino from Triple-A Columbus. The Indians claimed Rottino on waivers June 27 from the New York Mets . ... Indians RHP Corey Kluber will make his first big league start Thursday against the Indians. He had an 8.31 ERA in three Cleveland relief appearances last September in his only prior big league experience. .The Royals recalled RHP Jeremy Jeffress from Triple-A Omaha. .Royals LHP Bruce Chen , who starts Thursday, has won six of his past seven decisions against the Indians.
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Cleveland Indians