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Tribe crush Royals

Fri 12th, September 2008

Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - Kelly Shoppach and Shin-Soo Choo each homered and drove in three runs, helping Cleveland ace Cliff Lee to his league-leading 22nd victory in the Indians' 12-5 thumping of the Kansas City Royals.

Lee (22-2) wasn't overpowering but was nonetheless effective, scattering 11 hits and five runs -- four earned -- over 8 1/3 innings. The lefty has won 11 straight decisions dating back to July 6. The front-runner for the AL Cy Young Award finished with three punch-outs without walking a batter.

Grady Sizemore was 3-for-5 with two doubles, two runs scored and a pair of RBI for Cleveland, which has now won four of its last six, including the opener of this four-game set. Asdrubal Cabrera added a two-run homer for the victors

Gil Meche (11-11) lost for just the second time in 13 starts, getting tagged for six runs on 10 hits with a walk and seven strikeouts through five frames. Jose Guillen homered twice as the Royals have dropped four of their last five.

Jamey Carroll helped Cleveland get on the board in the first by singling, moving up on a wild pitch and scoring on Choo's dribbler up the middle.

KC answered in the second when Mark Teahen's bloop single to left scored Miguel Olivo, who reached on Jhonny Peralta's throwing error. Two Royals were thrown out at the plate later in the inning, however, keeping it a 1-1 game.

Shoppach cranked out a solo blast in the bottom of the second and added a two- run single in the fifth. Choo and Ben Francisco also had run-scoring hits in the four-run fifth, giving Lee and the home squad a commanding 6-1 lead.

Guillen cranked a solo round-tripper in the away sixth, just the ninth homer Lee has allowed this year. But in the home half, Royals reliever Kip Wells walked the first two batters, and Sizemore scored both with a double to the left-field gap before crossing home on Peralta's sac fly three hitters later.

Cabrera's two-run shot in the seventh and Choo's solo tally in the eighth were icing on the cake for the Tribe.

Guillen padded his stats with his second homer of the game in the ninth, and Teahen's RBI double chased Lee from a possible complete game later in the frame. Jensen Lewis came in and allowed a sacrifice fly off the bat of Tony Pena for the game's last run.

Game Notes

Shoppach and Guillen both have 20 homers on the year. It was Guillen's 11th multi-homer game of his career...Sizemore broke an 0-for-25 slump with a single in the fifth inning...Before the game, KC activated infielder Alex Gordon and outfielder Mitch Maier from the 15-day disabled list...The two clubs will play in a day/night doubleheader on Saturday...Cleveland holds a 10-5 edge in the season series...Lee is the first pitcher to have 20 more wins than losses since Oakland's Bob Welch in 1990.