Harold Ramirez, Josh Naylor lead another late surge in Cleveland Indians’ 7-3

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Even after a convincing win Tuesday over Kansas City, the Cleveland Indians still have some lingering questions. But one of the answers could be Harold Ramirez in center field.

In just his second game after joining the club from the taxi squad, Ramirez collected a pair of hits including the go-ahead RBI double off Royals reliever Josh Staumont in the eighth inning of a 7-3 Indians victory at Kauffman Stadium.

Ramirez smacked Staumont’s 2-2 fastball into the right field corner to score Franmil Reyes with one out in the eighth. Josh Naylor followed with an RBI ground ball single through the left side to extend Cleveland’s lead and Jake Bauers added on with a two-run pinch-hit home run off Royals righty Tyler Zuber, his first of the year that pushed Cleveland’s advantage to four.

Ramirez said he hates striking out, and when he gets to a two-strike count, he takes steps to avoid doing so.

“My approach gets to be really aggressive just to put the ball in play,” Ramirez said.

Ten of Cleveland’s 15 wins have been comeback victories, and Tuesday’s three-run deficit matched their biggest comeback of the season. Ramirez and Naylor stayed red-hot at the plate, each collecting a pair of hits to lead a resurgent offense that came on late after struggling against Royals lefty Mike Minor.

Cleveland has won four out of its last five games and three straight against the Royals dating back to the first week of April while knocking Kansas City into a first-place tie with Chicago atop the American League Central Division.

The Indians had no answers early for Minor, who baffled Cleveland hitters through five innings, allowing just three hits and three walks.

But the Indians rallied from a three-run deficit in the sixth as Franmil Reyes sent a high chop with the bases loaded toward shortstop Nicky Lopez that skipped under his glove. Two runs scored on the play and José Ramírez motored into third base.

José Ramírez later came home on an run-scoring single by Harold Ramirez off Greg Holland that knotted the game at 3. Manager Terry Francona said he understands there is going to be frustration at times, but the biggest thing for the Indians is that they keep playing.

“If you keep playing it gets fun,” Francona said. “Our dugout had a lot of energy, especially after Jake hit that ball out. I enjoy watching those guys have fun because they battled hard to give us a chance to win.”

Righty Phil Maton made his first big-league start as an “opener” for rookie Sam Hentges, who entered in the second inning after Maton allowed a run on a one-out double by Hunter Dozier and an RBI single by Michael A. Taylor. He struck out Hanser Alberto and retired Lopez on a fly ball to right to escape trouble.

Francona compared Hentges to Royals lefty Daniel Lynch, who made his big league debut against Cleveland on Monday. He said Hentges’ command was “spotty” at times especially as he got deeper into the game.

“It’s a kid that’s had an uneven schedule the last three weeks,” Francona said. “Hopefully getting him on a five-day routine will really be good for him.”

Kansas City added to its lead in the third on an unusual play when Salvador Perez singled on a drive to deep right center. With Whit Merrifield at third and Andrew Benintendi at second, Perez’s fly ball landed between Harold Ramirez and Naylor on the warning track. Merrifield scored easily, but Benintendi was confused, possibly by an umpire’s incorrect ruling of a catch, and was hung up between second and third.

Naylor got the ball back to the infield quickly and Amed Rosario tagged Benintendi, but after crew chief Angel Hernandez’s crew talked the play over, Benintendi was awarded third base.

Francona argued vehemently with Hernandez while Hentges tossed a few warmup pitches to stay loose. Ultimately the call did not cost Cleveland any runs as Hentges struck out Jorge Soler and got Taylor on a fly ball to right.

Perez gave the Royals a three-run lead in the fifth with a 460-foot home run off Hentges that landed in the fountains beyond the center field wall. It was Perez’s seventh home run and his second against Cleveland this year.

While Kansas City’s bullpen suffered a second consecutive late-inning collapse, Cleveland’s bullpen hung tough once again. Nick Sandlin, Nick Wittgren and Cal Quantrill combined for 4 1/3 scoreless innings after Hentges departed. Sandlin struck out Taylor with the go-ahead run in scoring position in the fifth while Wittgren worked a clean seventh.

Quantrill allowed just a hit in the eighth and a walk and a hit in the ninth before Carlos Santana hit into a 3-5 double play to end the game.

Next: The series continues Tuesday as the Indians send righty Shane Bieber (3-2, 2.76) to the mound. He faces Royals right-hander Brady Singer (1-2, 3.09). First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. The game will air on Bally Sports Great Lakes, WTAM 1100 AM, WMMS 100.7 FM and the Indians Radio Network.

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