Kansas City Royals vs Cleveland Guardians Match Player Stats On Jul 08, 2021

Franmil Reyes belted a three-run homer in the ninth inning as the host Cleveland Indians snapped a nine-game losing skid with a 7-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday.

Cesar Hernandez hit a one-out double in the ninth inning off Greg Holland (2-4), who then issued a two-out intentional walk to Jose Ramirez before Reyes deposited a 1-0 fastball over the wall in center field. Reyes' homer was his 14th of the season and third in as many games.

Roberto Perez launched a three-run homer in the eighth inning and Bobby Bradley had a fourth-inning solo shot for the Indians, who posted their first win since June 28. Cleveland has won six of the seven encounters against the Royals this season.

The late uprising made a winner of James Karinchak (5-2), who allowed Carlos Santana to cap a two-homer performance with a shot leading off the ninth inning. Santana spent 10 seasons with the Indians over two stints before signing a two-year deal with Kansas City in December.

Hunter Dozier also had a solo homer for the Royals, who have lost 13 of their past 16 games overall and 10 in a row on the road.

Kansas City was nursing a 3-1 lead in the eighth inning before Scott Barlow issued a pair of walks. Perez deposited a 2-1 slider over the wall in center field for his fourth homer of the season, giving the Indians a 4-3 lead.

Perez was playing in his fourth game since being activated from the injured list on Saturday following surgery on his right index finger.

The Royals opened the scoring in the third inning when Whit Merrifield's hard-hit smash caromed off the glove of shortstop Amed Rosario and into left field. Michael A. Taylor easily scored from second base on the play.

Santana doubled the advantage in the fourth inning before Dozier gave the Royals a 3-0 lead two batters later. Dozier sent a 1-2 pitch from Zach Plesac over the wall in left field for his eighth homer of the season and first since June 3.

Bradley deposited a 1-2 slider from Danny Duffy over the wall in right field in the fourth inning to trim Kansas City's lead to 3-1. Bradley's blast was his ninth of the season and first since he belted a pair of solo shots in a 9-4 loss to Detroit on June 30.

--Field Level Media