Cleveland Guardians vs Kansas City Royals Match Player Stats On Sep 03, 2024

Brayan Rocchio homered and drove in four runs and Tanner Bibee tossed six strong innings leading the visiting Cleveland Guardians past Kansas City 7-1 on Tuesday, sending the Royals to their seventh consecutive loss.

Bibee (11-6) surrendered one run on two hits with three walks and six strikeouts. Kyle Manzardo matched a career high with three hits while Will Brennan had two hits and two runs for the Guardians (80-59), who have won five of their past six.

Cleveland extended its American League Central lead to 4 1/2 games over the second-place Minnesota Twins (75-63) and to 5 1/2 games over the third-place Royals (75-65).

The Royals have managed a total of six hits in the two losses to the Guardians the past two days. Kansas City has been outscored 39-17 during its season-worst losing streak and has scored fewer than three runs in five straight games.

Through the first five innings, Bibee permitted a lone hit -- Bobby Witt Jr.'s first-inning single -- and allowed just one runner past first base.

Rocchio's second-inning sacrifice fly opened the scoring and Andres Gimenez looped an RBI single to left in the fifth for a 2-0 Cleveland lead.

Bibee ran into sixth-inning trouble, allowing a leadoff double to Tommy Pham and walks to Witt and Michael Massey to load the bases ahead of Paul DeJong's one-out sacrifice fly.

After Cleveland's Bo Naylor led off the seventh with a single, Rocchio twice failed to get a bunt down in fair ground before hooking his seventh homer inside the left field foul pole for a 4-1 lead.

Pitching for the first time since leaving the Thursday game in Houston with a minor hand injury, Royals reliever Lucas Erceg loaded the bases in the eighth, allowing two hits and hitting a batter. James McArthur took over on the mound with two outs, and Rocchio drew a run-scoring walk and Steven Kwan delivered a two-run single, capping the scoring.

Guardians first baseman Josh Naylor left the game in the eighth inning due an apparent injury.

Royals starter Brady Singer (9-10) allowed two runs on five hits and two walks with three strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.

Witt had half of Kansas City's four hits, his 57th multi-hit game of the season.

--Field Level Media