Carlos Santana and Mike Napoli homered, and the Indians used a fifth-inning rally to pull off a 5-4 comeback win over the Royals in a Mother’s Day divisional clash on Sunday at Progressive Field.
With the win, the Tribe took two of three in the series and ended its homestand with a 5-1 showing against Detroit and Kansas City.
“It’s huge, especially against division rivals,” Indians reliever Bryan Shaw said. “Obviously, we’ve struggled a little with a lot of these guys the past couple of years. … It’s good to get some wins against these guys, especially for the standings and everything else within the division.”
Santana and Napoli — two of the eight Cleveland starters to use a pink bat — both launched home runs off Royals starter Edinson Volquez, who was chased after 4 1/3 innings. Volquez was charged with five runs on seven hits, ending with four strikeouts and four walks in the loss.
“I was all over the place,” Volquez said of his lack of command. “I really had a hard time to find any rhythm. I never felt comfortable on the mound. It’s my fault. I wasted an opportunity to win the game.”
Added manager Ned Yost, “First couple of innings, he was really good. But his pitch count got elevated and then they just found some holes in the fifth.”
Indians righty Josh Tomlin improved to 5-0 after giving up four runs on seven hits in six innings. Three of Kansas City’s runs off Tomlin came in the fourth, when Eric Hosmer came through with a towering, two-run homer that dropped into the center-field bullpens, and Salvador Perez chipped in an RBI double.
Tomlin improved to 12-0 in starts following an Indians loss, dating to the start of last season.
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