KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Shin-Soo Choo belted the go-ahead two-run double in the top of the 10th inning as the Cleveland Indians survived blowing a seven-run lead and snuck past the Kansas City Royals, 11-9, in the middle game of a three-game set at Kauffman Stadium.

Choo was plunked in the thigh by a Jonathan Sanchez fastball in the third inning, provoking a benches-clearing situation which resulted in multiple ejections. He was booed heavily in his remaining at-bats by the home crowd, but came through in the clutch by ripping a fastball into left field off of Greg Holland (0-1).

Choo took exception to being thrown at and took a few steps toward the mound while yelling at Sanchez before being restrained by home plate umpire Gary Darling.

Choo and Sanchez already have a history, as it was a Sanchez fastball that broke Choo’s left thumb on June 24 last season and caused him to miss nearly a month.

“I know it’s not on purpose, the catcher set up inside,” said Choo. “He (Sanchez) tried it inside, but missed. Still, I have a memory (from) last year. Maybe I am a little bit sensitive.”

Asdrubal Cabrera went 3-for-6 with an RBI and two runs scored, Jason Kipnis crushed a two-run homer, Casey Kotchman added a solo shot, while Carlos Santana and Jose Lopez had two RBI apiece for the Indians, who have won the first two games in this series.

Jairo Asencio (1-1) picked up with win with a scoreless ninth inning and Chris Perez pitched a scoreless bottom of the 10th to earn his second save of the season.

Billy Butler and Moustakas drove in two runs each, while Yuniesky Betancourt cracked a solo homer and Eric Hosmer, Alcides Escobar and Jarrod Dyson each knocked in a run for the Royals, who have dropped four of their last five.

The Indians jumped on Kansas City in the third, plating five runs.

Michael Brantley started the rally with a triple over the head of Dyson and Cabrera followed with an RBI single up the middle to score Brantley.

The inning continued as Choo was plunked by Sanchez — sparking the benches- clearing incident — and Santana followed with an RBI double to bring home Cabrera and give the Indians a 2-0 edge. Shelley Duncan was then intentionally walked to load the bases with still only one out and Lopez then cracked a two- run double to left to make it 4-0.

Kotchman worked a walk to load the bags again and Jason Donald kept the big inning going with a sacrifice fly to drive in Duncan and cap the scoring.

The feistiness continued in the bottom of the third inning when Indians starter Jeanmar Gomez nailed the first batter he saw — Royals third baseman Moustakas — which once again brought players out of the dugouts. Once the dust settled, Gomez, Indians manager Manny Acta and Jack Hannahan were ejected and Josh Tomlin took over on the mound.

“I was real surprised,” remarked Moustakas. “The guy had no hits and a five- run lead. I was out there and I was going to see a pitch no matter what I think of it. A five-run lead, I was going to see a pitch. It came in and the next one hit me.”

Tomlin got Humberto Quintero to groundout before giving up an RBI triple to Escobar to get the Royals on the board. Dyson followed with a sacrifice fly to score Escobar and make it 5-2 for Cleveland.

The Indians responded in the fourth when Cabrera ripped a double to start the frame and came around to score on a base hit from Santana to extend the lead to 6-2.

The Tribe added three more runs in the fifth when Kotchman blasted one over the wall in right-center field to lead off the inning and following a Donald single, Kipnis crushed a ball over the wall in left-center to make it 9-2.

They would not score again until Choo’s go-ahead hit. The Royals meanwhile, began their seven-run comeback in the home fifth.

Betancourt slapped a single to left to start the frame, moved to second on a wild pitch by Tomlin and trotted home on a double by Moustakas. The Kansas City third baseman then crossed the plate on a double-play ground out by Escobar to make it a 9-4 game.

In the sixth, the Royals added two more runs to pull within 9-6 when Jeff Francoeur led off with a single to right and came home on a double by Butler, who was then driven in by a Moustakas double later in the inning.

Kansas City continued to chip away and added two more runs in the seventh to make it a one-run game courtesy of an RBI double by Hosmer and an RBI single by Butler. Betancourt capped the comeback with a solo blast over the left field wall in the eighth.

– Sports Network –

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Shin-Soo Choo and Jason Kipnis knocked in two runs apiece as the Cleveland Indians downed the Kansas City Royals, 8-3, in the opener of a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium.

Asdrubal Cabrera added a home run, while Derek Lowe (2-0) scattered 11 hits and three runs in 6 2/3 innings to earn the win.

“If you only give up three runs, they call it scattered 11 hits. If you pitch bad, you got shelled on 11 hits,” said Lowe. “I can’t remember if I’ve ever faced a few of these guys, but not many, so you have to learn on the fly.”

Luke Hochevar (1-1) got the start for Kansas City and gave up seven runs on nine hits and a walk through four innings, but took a Carlos Santana line drive off his left leg during the final out of the fourth and did not return for the fifth.

Cleveland jumped all over the Royals in the first inning after Michael Brantley led off the contest with a single that was followed by a double into the right-field corner by Cabrera to place runners on second and third.

Choo stepped up next and pulled a base hit through the right side of the infield that plated Brantley and Cabrera. Choo later stole second and came home on Shelley Duncan’s bloop single into shallow right field.

After Casey Kotchman followed with a base hit to right, Kipnis smacked a ball into deep center field that Jarrod Dyson lost track of for a two-run triple. Jack Hannahan added an RBI single before rounding the bases on Brantley’s double to spot the Indians a seven-run advantage.

Kansas City got a run back in the bottom of the frame when Dyson, Jeff Francoeur and Eric Hosmer hit consecutive singles to bring home Dyson, but Billy Butler followed by grounding into a 4-6-3 double play and Alex Gordon struck out to keep it a 7-1 game.

An RBI base hit by Gordon and a run-scoring double by Mike Moustakas in the fourth inning closed the gap to 7-3, but the Royals got no closer, stranding tow runners in the sixth, runners on second and third in the seventh, and a man on second in the eighth.

Cabrera led off the ninth with a blast over the center-field wall to finalize the scoring.

“It was a real dream come true,” Moustakas said about playing in his first career home opener. “To go out there and play Major League Baseball in front of this great city and in front of these great fans couldn’t have gone much better other than a W for us today.”

– Sports Network –

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Royals outfielder Lorenzo Cain has been placed on the disabled list with a left groin strain, taking him out of the lineup as the team returns to Kansas City for its home opener.

Cain hurt the groin when he bumped into the wall while chasing a flyball off the bat of Oakland’s Daric Barton in the second inning of a 3-0 victory Tuesday night. Cain was held out of the lineup Wednesday and placed on the DL on Thursday.

Kansas City plays its home opener Friday against the Cleveland Indians.

Cain took over in centerfield for Melky Cabrera, who was traded to San Francisco in the offseason. Cain had two hits in 15 at-bats and struck out five times to start the season.

Jarrod Dyson will be recalled from Triple-A Omaha to take Cain’s place.

OAKLAND, Calif. — After the Royals took a 4-3 lead in the top of the 12th, the A’s scored two runs in the bottom of the frame without recording a hit to take a 5-4 decision over Kansas City in the finale of a three-game series at Oakland Coliseum on Wednesday.

Billy Butler broke a 3-3 tie with a two-out double to score Eric Hosmer in the top of the frame off of Andrew Carignan (1-0) before the Royals imploded in the bottom of the 12th.

Jonathan Broxton (0-1) came on for the save opportunity, punching out Daric Barton to start the inning. Pinch-hitter Seth Smith then reached on an error by shortstop Alcides Escobar before Jemile Weeks and Eric Sogard worked back- to-back walks to load the bases.

Coco Crisp followed with an RBI groundout, scoring Smith to tie the game and Yoenis Cespedes took a pitch off the shoulder to load the bases again.

Jonny Gomes then stepped to the plate, and Broxton’s first offering drilled Gomes, giving Oakland a rare walk-off hit by pitch for the victory.

Brandon McCarthy allowed just two runs on six hits and two walks over six innings as the A’s starter. Gomes hit a two-run homer, while Cespedes finished with two hits and two runs scored for Oakland, which took the series after splitting the first two with the Royals.

“We can’t really take anyone lightly,” remarked Gomes about the much improved AL West. “We just have to see what we can do to score more points than they do.”

Bruce Chen made the start for Kansas City and lasted just five innings, allowing three runs — two earned — on four hits and two walks. Alex Gordon, who started the season 0-17, finished 2-for-5 with a homer and two RBI, while Butler added a solo shot.

“He didn’t go too long without getting some hits on the board and driving in some runs,” said Royals manager Ned Yost about Gordon’s rough start to the season. “It’s good to get him off the 0-0-0 mark today and get him on the board.”

McCarthy left in the seventh with a 3-2 lead, but Brian Fuentes couldn’t hold the fort down. After getting Chris Getz to line out, Fuentes tossed an 0-1 sinker that Gordon lifted over the wall in center field to knot the game at 3-3.

Neither team threatened again as the bullpen’s for each team stayed strong until Jordan Norberto allowed a two-out single to Hosmer before Butler put the Royals in front with his double.

Earlier in the game, Oakland struck first as Cespedes ripped a double to left field to start the bottom of the second. After Gomes popped out, Cespedes swiped third and scored on catcher Brayan Pena’s throwing error to give the A’s a 1-0 lead.

Pena made up for his throwing gaffe in the top of the third, roping a one-out double to center field before scoring two batters later on Gordon’s RBI single to center.

In the top of the fourth, Butler launched the first pitch he saw into the seats in left-center field to give the visitors a 2-1 edge, but the A’s jumped in front in the bottom of the fourth when Cespedes worked a leadoff walk and Gomes plated him with a two-run homer to left-center field, providing Oakland with a 3-2 lead.

– Sports Network –

Oakland, Calif — Tom Milone worked eight innings to help the Oakland Athletics take a 1-0 win over the Kansas City Royals in the opener of a three-game set.

Milone (1-0) gave up just three hits, all doubles and three walks in his debut for the Athletics, who acquired the lefty in the deal that sent Gio Gonzalez to Washington over the winter.

“If it’s the first game of the season and I end up going eight, that’s obviously a good sign,” Milone said. “I’m keeping the pitch count low and able to get that far in the game, luckily keep the team in the ballgame, and we got a win out of it.”

“He did a fantastic job of keeping the ball off the barrel of our bat,” Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. “…We just couldn’t center him up.”

Josh Donaldson drove in Seth Smith in the second inning for the only run of the game while Kurt Suzuki went 3-for-3 in the win for Oakland, which was coming off a pair of losses to Seattle on Friday and Saturday.

Jason Bourgeois, Yuniesky Betancourt and Alcides Escobar each hit a double for the Royals, who took two of three from the Angels to open up the season.

Luis Mendoza (0-1) was the hard-luck loser as he gave up one run on five hits with four walks and two strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings.

The only run of the game came in the second inning when Smith hit a one-out walk, moved to second on a Suzuki walk and then took third on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Daric Barton. Donaldson then dropped a single into right field for the 1-0 advantage.

Kansas City got a one-out double from Bourgeois in the first, but he was nailed at third trying to tag up on a fly out.

Betancourt was stranded at second after hitting a two-out double in the second.

Eric Hosmer and Jeff Francoeur were both caught stealing in the fourth inning and the Royals managed just one baserunner over the next four frames.

Grant Balfour pitched around a one-out walk to Mitch Maier in the ninth to pick up his second save of the season.

– Sports Network –