KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jakob Junis made first start for the Kansas City Royals since May 14, but he got zero run support and came up just shy of five full innings in a less than ideal welcome back game.
Royals star catcher Salvador Perez’s bat cooled down during the off day, and his streak of games with a homer stopped at five. He went 0 for 3 and got hit by a pitch in his final plate appearance of the night with two outs in the ninth inning.
Meanwhile, Cleveland Indians shortstop Amed Rosario drove in the game’s first five runs, including one inside-the-park home run and one conventional home run, as the Royals lost 7-2 in front of an announced 11,542 at Kauffman Stadium for the first game of a three-game set on Tuesday night.
Indians right-hander Zach Plesac handcuffed Royals hitters for seven scoreless innings. He allowed just two hits and didn’t walk a batter. He struck out seven on the way to his ninth win of the season.
Carlos Santana’s RBI single in the ninth inning snapped an 0-for-11 streak and drove in the Royals’ first run of the night. Andrew Benintendi followed with an RBI double.
Whit Merrifield (1 for 4), Nicky Lopez (1 for 3, double), Michael A. Taylor also had hits.
Junis (2-4) allowed three runs on four hits and one walk in 4 2/3 innings.
The Indians struck in the first inning when Rosario sent a high cutter into the fight-field corner and Edward Olivares went charging after it. Olivares made a leaping attempt at a catch against the wall, but he misjudged the ball’s flight and failed to haul it in.
The ball caromed toward right-center as he picked himself up off the ground after his collision with the wall. Rosario sprinted around the bases for an inside-the-park home run while Olivares scrambled to his feet, chased down the ball and threw it back to the infield. The Indians grabbed a 1-0 lead two batters into the game.
Junis turned the game over to the bullpen with two outs and two on in the fifth inning, but both runs scored after relief pitcher Joel Payamps entered the game and gave up a two-run single up the middle by Rosario.
In the seventh, Rosario hit a two-run homer an estimated 420 feet to center field off relief pitcher Kyle Zimmer.
The Indians tacked on two more runs in the eighth on Bobby Bradley’s two-run homer off right-hander Wade Davis.
First pitch on Wednesday will be 7:10 p.m. Neither team had announced a starting pitcher going into the evening.
