Whit Merrifield snapped out of his recent funk, the Royals' offense followed his lead and the bullpen provided a stellar performance as their losing slide stopped at seven games.
Merrifield homered, drove in three runs, had two hits and scored twice as the Royals beat the Cleveland Indians 8-6 at Progressive Field Tuesday night. Merrifield, the two-time defending MLB hits king, went 1 for 30 during the club's most recent homestand.
Alex Gordon went 2 for 5, while Maikel Franco and Nicky Lopez collected two RBIs apiece for the Royals (15-28).
Trailing going into the seventh inning, the Royals scored five runs against the Indians' bullpen in the final three innings to secure the victory.
Before the game, the Royals placed designated hitter and last year's AL home run champion Jorge Soler on the injured list with a right oblique strain (retroactive to Sept. 6). They called up infielder Matt Reynolds to fill the open roster spot.
Reynolds started at third base Tuesday, while Franco served as the DH.
