CLEVELAND _ A lot has been made of the Indians outfield this season, with much of it being sent into the complaint column.
But on Friday it was the starting outfield that powered the lineup and led the Indians to a 10-5 win over the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field. It was the Indians' sixth win in a row after they dropped the first two games to the Minnesota Twins after the All-Star break.
Right fielder Jordan Luplow first tied it at 1 in the first inning by driving in Francisco Lindor with a sacrifice fly against Royals starter Mike Montgomery.
Two innings later, right fielder Tyler Naquin stepped to the plate with the Indians trailing 2-1 and a runner on first and crushed a moonshot of a two-run, go-ahead home run that hit near the top of the right-field foul pole. The home run, Naquin's ninth of the season, had an estimated distance of 433 feet.
It was center fielder Oscar Mercado's turn two batters later. After Lindor doubled, Mercado followed with another double to make it 4-2. Jose Ramirez drove in a run with a groundout later in the inning for a 5-2 lead.
Mercado entered the game never having a four-hit game in the majors, but went 5 for 5. In doing so, he became the first Indians hitter with a five-hit game since Ramirez on Sept. 3, 2017, and the first Indians rookie to accomplish the feat since Kipnis on Aug. 10, 2011.
Luplow then led off the fifth with a single and came around to score on Roberto Perez's sacrifice fly to right field.
Continuing the hot night for the outfield, Naquin opened the sixth with a double and scored on Mercado's double to left two batters later to put the Indians on top 7-5.
The Indians (56-40) left no doubt in the bottom of the eighth. With the bases loaded, Greg Allen was hit by pitch, Ramirez hit an RBI single to extend his hitting streak to 11 games and Kipnis hit a sacrifice fly to make it 10-5.
In all, the three starting outfielders combined to go 9 for 11 with five RBIs and five runs scored.
The outfield's torrid night also helped to mask a poor _ and somewhat odd _ outing for Shane Bieber, who was tagged for five earned runs (though three scored as inherited runners) on seven hits and four walks to go with six strikeouts.
In the first inning, two walks and a single loaded the bases for Humberto Arteaga. The Royals (36-63) brought a run home, but it was nothing Arteaga did, as Bieber was called for a balk that gave the Royals a 1-0 lead.
Hunter Dozier's RBI double in the third momentarily put the Royals on top 2-1 _ until Naquin's blast in the bottom half of the inning _ before Royals put together a three-run sixth that ended Bieber's night, even though he was in the dugout when the damage was done.
Bieber exited in favor of Nick Goody with the bases loaded, and they were quickly cleared when Whit Merrifield ripped a triple to right field.
