Quantrill continues to impress vs. Royals

Yu Chang hit a bases-loaded triple off left fielder Andrew Benintendi’s glove in the first inning, leading Cal Quantrill and the Indians over the Kansas City Royals, 4-1, Tuesday night.

Ernie Clement homered as the second-place Indians kept Chicago’s magic number for clinching the AL Central at two. Cleveland hosts the White Sox in a five-game series beginning Thursday.

Chang, who has 19 RBIs in 26 games since being recalled from Triple-A Columbus, hit a line drive and Benintendi slipped on the wet grass in pursuit.

Benintendi made a late jump and the ball tipped off his glove — he quickly looked at his mitt to see if he’d caught the ball as it rolled to the wall, scoring Myles Straw, Oscar Mercado and José Ramirez.

Quantrill (7-3) worked 6 2/3 innings, striking out six and allowing one run on Hunter Dozier’s homer in the seventh. The righthander made his final home start of the year, finishing with a 5-0 record and 2.20 ERA at Progressive Field.

Emmanuel Clase pitched the ninth for his 24th save.

Daniel Lynch (4-6) allowed four runs on four hits in six innings, walking three, hitting Chang with a pitch and striking out five. The rookie left-hander only gave up one hit after the second, but is winless in five starts since Aug. 23 with three losses.

Nicky Lopez doubled in the third to extend his on-base streak to 31 games, equaling the longest single-season run by the Royals since Billy Butler’s 32-gamer in 2013. Lopez is batting .380 (49for 129) since the streak began on Aug. 21.

Clement hit his third homer. Playing second base, he also came up big defensively, sprawling onto the grass to rob Lopez with two on and two outs in the seventh.

Righty Dylan Coleman made his major league debut for Kansas City, surrendering one hit in the eighth.

Milestone man

Royals C Salvador Perez has 46 home runs this season — two shy of Jorge Soler’s team record set in 2019 — and sits at 198 for his career. One day earlier, Perez broke Johnny Bench’s MLB record for homers in a year by a player who caught at

least 75% of his games. “Salvy is going to have to build a new mantle to display all of his mementos,” manager Mike Matheny said. “Heck, he might as well build an entire fireplace.”

Trainer’s room

Royals: C Cam Gallagher (left knee inflammation) was activated from the injured list after missing 16 games. Gallagher went 2 for 7 with two runs and an

RBI during a rehab assignment with Triple-A Omaha. C Sebastian Rivero was optioned to the Storm Chasers.

Indians: SS Amed Rosario (health and safety protocols) was placed on the COVID-19 injured list, but is expected to return to action Thursday. The transaction was strictly procedural as Rosario had spent the maximum seven days on the bereavement list.

Up next

Royals: RHP Carlos Hernández (6-2, 3.90 ERA) has not lost in 10 road appearances this season, going 3-0 with a 2.60 ERA and 35 strikeouts over 34 2/3 innings.

Indians: LHP Logan Allen (1-7, 7.11 ERA) posted his only win on April 11 against Detroit. Allen is 0-6 with an 8.39 ERA and three trips to the minors since that date.

TONY DEJAK — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Indians’ Yu Chang watches his three-run triple in the first inning of a baseball game against the Royals, Sept. 21, in Cleveland.