Chang triple propels Tribe

Yu Chang hit a bases-loaded triple off left fielder Andrew Benintendi’s glove in the first inning, leading Cal Quantrill and the Indians to a 4-1 win over the Royals on Sept. 21.

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 Sept. 23.

Chang, who has 19 RBI and 13 extra-base hits 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 looked at his mitt to see if he’d caught the ball as it rolled to the wall — as Myles Straw, Oscar Mercado and José Ramirez came around.

“I thought he would catch it,” Chang admitted.

“I didn’t think that much when I came to bat because I already have an approach in the zone. The ball is just there. I hit the ball.”

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 after Blake Parker and Bryan Shaw combined for a four-out bridge.

“Cal is pitching the baseball very well, mixing his repertoire and attacking hitters differently,” Indians acting manager DeMarlo Hale said. “You look at his line, he got groundball outs, he got flyball outs, punched out six. Just another good effort.”

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.

“We’ve got to find a way to be better coming into the game, and it’s not just Daniel,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “To his credit after that rough start, he did keep us in the game.”

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

Clement hit his third homer and had a pair of hits.