Mercado’s five-hit game keeps Indians on a roll
Indians 10, Royals 5
CLEVELAND — A lot has been made of the Cleveland Indians outfield this season, with much of it being placed in 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 rightfield 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.
Luplow led off the fifth with a single and scored on Roberto Perez’s sacrifice fly.
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.
Cleveland left no doubt in the eighth. With the bases loaded, Greg Allen was hit by pitch, Ramirez hit an RBI single and Kipnis added a sacrifice fly to make it 10-5.
In all, the three starting outfielders combined to go 9 for 11 with five RBI and five runs scored.