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KANSAS CITY http://www.astrosfanproshop.com/authentic-nolan-ryan-jersey , Mo. (AP) — Jason Kipnis had been mired in such a batting slump that the Indians second baseman had resorted to watching old film of himself, trying to discover what had changed in the past couple years.He finally noticed a subtle, almost imperceptible difference in his hand position, so he rolled up a magazine and began mimicking his old swing in his hotel room. And while it felt a bit odd, and looked just as goofy, Kipnis nevertheless went to sleep feeling as if something had finally clicked.Did it ever.Kipnis proceeded to club four hits and drive in four runs Sunday, the big shot an inside-the-park homer in the ninth inning, to lead Cleveland’s 12-5 rout of the Kansas City Royals.“Obviously every day I’ve been working to snap out of it. It’s been ugly to watch and worse to go out there,” said Kipnis, who is still hitting just .223 this season. “I came in with better spirits and said, ‘Let’s see where it goes from here.'”Kipnis nearly went 5 for 5, but a baserunning mix-up by Melky Cabrera on his flyball in the second resulted in a fielder’s choice. Kipnis later had a pair of singles and a double before the homer.“He swung the bat very well http://www.astrosfanproshop.com/authentic-yuli-gurriel-jersey ,” Indians manager Terry Francona said, “and I’ll tell you what, what a lift that would give us. He’s showed flashes, but if he could get hot, what a lift it would be.”Shane Bieber (8-2) allowed four runs for Cleveland — on homers by Whit Merrifield, Salvador Perez and Lucas Duda. He departed after allowing six hits and striking out seven in 5 1/3 innings, but it was still enough for the AL Central-leading Indians to improve to 10-1 when facing a series sweep.Right-hander Jorge Lopez (0-4) allowed five runs, all in the fourth inning, on five hits and three walks for Kansas City. He was lifted after throwing 79 pitches in just four innings.“You give a chance to your guys when you go deep in a game and I couldn’t do it today. I need to get better for sure,” Lopez said. “We’ll see about going forward from this start.”The Royals, who had snapped their own five-game skid Friday night, looked as if they’d keep their momentum going when Merrifield took Bieber deep to left field leading off the game.It was his fifth career leadoff homer and second this year.But the Indians answered with their big fourth inning http://www.astrosfanproshop.com/authentic-jake-marisnick-jersey , when six consecutive batters reached on four hits and a pair of walks. And after Perez went deep in the bottom half, the Indians added two more runs on Francisco Lindor’s two-out single in the sixth to add to their cushion.Edwin Encarnacion continued the offensive outburst — which came after the Indians were held to one run on five hits on Saturday night — when he took Royals reliever Jake Newberry deep in the eighth.“It’s been a tough trip for a lot of guys, but they’re going to be OK,” Francona said. “We needed to find a way today, whether it was ugly or whatever, and we did that.”O’HEARN IN LFRoyals 1B/DH Ryan O’Hearn got the start in left field, the first time he’s played the outfield in the big leagues. O’Hearn played 13 games there at Triple-A Omaha this season, and manager Ned Yost said the move was designed to “find a way to keep his bat in there.”TRAINER’S ROOMIndians: RHP Cody Anderson (Tommy John surgery) struck out two in a scoreless inning Saturday night for the club’s Arizona League team. It was his first game since September 2016. “No red flags or anything,” Francona said. … OF Brandon Guyer is getting a couple days off after getting hit where the foot meets the ankle, or as Francona called it, the “fankle.”Royals: RHP Ian Kennedy (left oblique strain) threw 60 pitches last Friday without any problems and expects to make a rehab start Wednesday, Yost said. … OF Jorge Soler (fractured left toe) will begin a rehab assignment in the next couple of days Michael Saunders Jersey , but even then he is unlikely to play in the outfield. “I don’t think so,” Yost said. “DH him some, give him some at-bats, make sure he’s ready to go for spring training, which he will be.”UP NEXTThe Indians and Royals will both take Monday off before beginning their next series. Cleveland is back home to face Minnesota with Carlos Carrasco (15-7, 3.55 ERA) on the mound, and Kansas City begins a five-game trip to Detroit and Baltimore with Jakob Junis (6-12, 4.70 ERA) getting the first start. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Steven Matz has developed a sense for when his pitching mechanics are in order.“When I’m going good, I can get in a good rhythm and just kind of keep going,” he said.The 27-year-old left-hander was feeling it on Saturday.Matz struck out a career-high 11 batters and the New York Mets went on to beat the San Francisco Giants 2-1 in 11 innings.“That was something that (catcher Tomas) Nito and I were really on top of,” Matz said. “We just had a good rhythm going. He was putting down (signs) that I was wanting. It just worked out good.”Wilmer Flores doubled to left off Giants reliever Hunter Strickland (3-4) to lead off the 11th. He went to third when Jay Bruce grounded out to second against the shift, and scored on Todd Frazier’s fly ball to left.Jerry Blevins (2-2) pitched a scoreless 10th and Mets closer Robert Gsellman worked the 11th for his ninth save.Brandon Nimmo made a diving catch in right field http://www.royalsfanproshop.com/authentic-ryan-goins-jersey , robbing Austin Slater of a hit to end the game.The Mets have won six of their last seven games at AT&T Park.Slater was 2 for 5 and Evan Longoria homered for the Giants.Longoria hit his 15th home run leading off the bottom of the fourth on a 2-1 sinker Matz left over the heart of the plate. Nido was 2 for 4 with an RBI double off Giants starter Derek Holland in the fifth.Holland gave up one run in six innings of three-hit ball in which he walked three.Matz gave up one run in seven innings of three-hit ball.“It was definitely the best I’ve seen (Matz) all year,” Mets manager Mickey Callaway said.After Longoria’s home run, the Mets held the Giants to one hit over the next eight innings.They didn’t advance a runner into scoring position over that stretch until 35-year-old outfielder Hunter Pence, who reached on a one-out walk off Blevins in the 10th and stole second with Joe Panik up with two outs.Blevins got Panik to fly out to left.“We couldn’t mount anything offensively,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.“We needed somebody to come through. It’s tough to get this kind of pitching and we couldn’t find a way to scratch out another run for them.”Mets starting pitchers over their last 13 games have combined for a 1.67 ERA (17 earned runs, 91 2/3 innings).“I try to build off those guys,” Matz said. “You see Zack (Wheeler) and (Jacob deGrom) and what they’ve done recently, we kind of all build off each other I think so I think it does help when you see those guys go out there and dominate like they do. “The beleaguered Mets bullpen combined for four shutout innings of no-hit ball. Going into Saturday, Mets relievers were tagged for 26 earned runs in their last 11 innings, for a 21.27 ERA over that stretch.LEFT OUTLeft-handed hitting infielder Jeff McNeil sat out of Saturday’s starting lineup against the left-handed Holland. Manager Mickey Callaway said he’ll rest other left-handed hitters during a stretch in which New York facs left-handed starters in three of its next four games. The Mets have faced 37 lefty starters, matching their 2017 total. They’re 15-22 vs. southpaw starters.ADDED ONThe Mets recalled right-handed pitchers Tim Peterson and Eric Hanhold from Triple-A Las Vegas. More call-ups are expected to trickle in. “It’s going to be a September with a lot of players and a lot of moving parts,” manager Mickey Callaway said. . The Giants recalled right-handed pitcher Ray Black from Triple-A Sacramento. More September call-ups are expected in time for a three-game series in Colorado Wily Peralta Jersey , which starts Monday, manager Bruce Bochy said.TRAINER’S ROOMGiants: SS Brandon Crawford was out of the lineup for a second straight day with a sore left knee, among other minor ailments, manager Bruce Bochy said. Crawford’s playing status is day-to-day.UP NEXTMets RHP Noah Syndergaard (9-3, 3.51 ERA) posted a 4.74 ERA in August. RHP Chris Stratton (9-7, 4.99) is 1-0 with a 1.26 ERA in two starts since an August 21 callup up from Triple-A Sacramento.