PAGE 6
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2013
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Royals' rally falls in tough loss to Cleveland Indians
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kansas City Royals' Eric Hosmer hits an RBI-single off Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Ubaido Jimenez in the sixth inning of a baseball game on Monday in Cleveland. Alex Gordon scored.
CLEVELAND — Ubaldo Jimenez struck out 10 in seven innings and Asdrubal Cabrera, Yan Gomes and Carlos Santana each hit solo homers, leading the Cleveland Indians to a 4-3 win over the Kansas City Royals on Monday night in a matchup between two teams in the thick of the AL wild-card chase.
The Indians, who won despite having only five hits, stayed even with Baltimore. 1½ games back of Tampa Bay for the second wild-card spot. The Royals dropped to four games behind the Rays.
four game (11-1) allowed one unearned run and didn't walk a batter. The right-hander left with a 4-1 lead after throwing 99 pitches, but Alex Gordon hit a two-run homer off Cody Allen in the eighth.
Chris Perez survived a shaky ninth for his 23rd save, retiring Gordon on a fly ball with the bases loaded to end the game. The Indians have won six of eight.
Salvador Perez led off with a single and Mike Moustakas walked on four pitches. Pinch-hitter David Lough's sacrifice moved the runners to second and third. Carlos Pena, batting for Jarrod Dyson, struck out looking on a full-count pitch. Pinch-hitter George Kotaras, battling back from an 0-2 count, walked to load the bases.
county where Gordon fled out to center fielder Michael Bourn to finally end Chris Perez's 7-pitch inning.
Royals starter Ervin Santana (8-9) made three mistakes, but they cost him the game. Cabrera homered in the second and Gomes hit his in the fifth. Santana led off the seventh with a line drive down the right field line that landed in the seats. First base umpire Dana Deon a groundout. First baseman Nick Swisher fielded Gordon's groundball and threw to catcher Yan Gomes, who tagged Dyson for the out.
Muth ruled the ball foul, bringing Indians manager Terry Francona out of the dugout.
The umpires huddled briefly and left the field to view a replay, which clearly showed the ball hit the foul pole. The umps returned to the field, DeMuth gave the home run signal and Santana rounded the bases.
A crowd of only 9,794 attended the game, despite the matchup of two contenders. Several hundred dogs were also in attendance with a Puppypaloza" promotion.
Puppypapalooza promo-book
The Indians also got a boost from rookie infielder Jose Ramirez, who got his first major league hit and used his speed to score a run in his first start since being called up from Double-A Akron on Sent. 1
Francona said before the game he started Ramirez because he thought the rookie could do something to help the team score. Ramirez made his manager look good in the third when he started the inning with a single.
As Drew Stubbs grounded out to third baseman Mike Moustakas, Ramirez, running on the 3-2 pitch, headed to third base. First baseman Eric Hosmer's return throw to third was in the dirt. The ball bounced off Moustakas and rolled into shallow left field as Ramirez slid into the base. Shortstop Alcides Escobar tracked down the ball but briefly bobbled it and Ramirez headed home, scoring without a throw.
Ramirez's throwing error on Gordon's infield hit led to Kansas City's run in the sixth. His wild throw to first allowed Gordon to take second before Hosmer's two-out single cut the lead to 3-1.
Other than the error, the Indians supported Jimenez with strong defense. Jarrod Dyson led off the third with a double and took third
Gomes also threw out two runners trying to steal second.
NOTES: Gordon's home run was the 100th of his career. . . Indians
RHP Justin Masterson (strained left obliquie) is confident he'll return before the season ends. He has begun limited activities, such as stretching, and hopes to start playing catch this weekend. ... Royals manager Ned Yost plans on continuing to alternate OFs Dyson, Lorenzo Cain and David Lough.
Cain and Dyson were in the line-up for their series opener in Cleveland, along with Gordon in left. Jason Giambi, the Indians' 42-year-old DH, says he'd like to play next season and would consider returning to Cleveland. "I love it here," he said. "I like the direction we're going." Giambi joked about recording
his 2,000th hit Sunday, saying, "It's a good accomplishment considering I can't run. It's more like 4,000." ... Royals RHP Jeremy Guthrie (13-10) faces Indians RHP Zach McAllister (7-8) in the second game of the three-game series Tuesday.
MLB
Gonzalez tosses 1-hitter against Mets, Harper still hurt
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Gio Gonzalez was inches from a no-hitter and the Washington Nationals hit five home runs Monday night, including long balls by their first two batters, in a 9-0 rout of the New York Mets.
Mets.
Gonzalez held the overmatched Mets hitless into the seventh before pinch-hitter Zach Lutz broke up the bid with a soft single for New York's only hit. Lutz swung at the first pitch of the inning and hit a looper that landed on the first base line, taking out a chunk of chalk well behind the bag.
First baseman Adam LaRoche made a diving attempt as the ball hit the dirt, but it squirred by and into foul territory along the right field line. First base umpire John Hirschbeck correctly called it fair,
and Gonzalez (10-6) paused behind the mound to stare in his direction.
After that, the left-hander kept sailing along in a dominant performance.
He struck out eight and walked two for his second career shutout and fourth complete game, improving to 5-0 in his last six starts against the Mets.
Denard Span and Ryan Zimmerman hit back-to-back homers to start the game. Jayson Werth and Tyler Moore also connected off Carlos Torres (3-4), roughed up by Washington for the second time in six weeks.
Wilson Ramos added a three-run shot off reliever Greg Burke.
Handed a huge lead, Gonzalez was in cruise control as he won his third straight start. He faced three batters more than the minimum to help the Nationals, on the fringe of
the NL wild-card chase, win their third in a row and fifth in six games.
Washington gave Gonzalez a two-run lead before he took the mound, hitting two homers on Torres' first eight pitches.
Span's shot to right field was his six career leadoff homer and first for the Nationals this season. It also extended his hitting streak to 20 games, the longest active run in the majors.
Zimmerman followed with a drive to left-center for his fourth home run in three days and sixth in the last seven games.
It marked the third time this season that a team hit back-to-back homers to begin a game, according to STATS. Matt Carpenter and Carlos Beltran did it for St. Louis on April 26 against Pittsburgh, and Kole Calhoun and Mike Trout connected for the Los Angeles Angels on Aug. 6 against Texas.
Steve Lombardozzi and Bryce Harper were the last Nationals pair to achieve the feat on June 3, 2012, against Atlanta. The previous time the Mets served up homers to the first two batters in a game was June 28, 2003, when Alfonso Soriano and Derek Jeter went deep for the Yankees, STATS said.
Span singled in the third, Zimmerman walked and Werth hit a three-run shot to left-center.
Moore opened the fourth with a long drive to straightaway center, making it 6-0. Ramos connected in the fifth, and the only drama left was Gonzalez's pursuit of a no-hitter.
ter.
Torres gave up six runs and five hits in four innings. He's made four solid starts for the Mets and turned in two duds against the Nationals, including their 14-1 rout on July 28.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Washington Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez delivers the ball to the New York Mets during the first inning of a baseball game on Monday in New York.
Cuba-Florida swimmer under scrutiny
SWIMMING
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Since Nyad finished her swim last week, long-distance swimmers have been debating on social media and in online forums whether the 64-year-old endurance athlete got or into held onto the boat accom-
MIAMI — Diana Nyad is planning to meet with members of the marathon swimming community who are skeptical about her 110-mile swim from Cuba to Florida, her team said Monday.
Nyad planned to meet Tuesday with her peers in the swimming community," Crotin said.
given Gina Diana is proud of what she and her team accomplished last week, and she is committed to complete transparency," said Alexandra Crotin, one of Nydal's spokeswomen.
panying her. They say she could not have picked up as much speed as she says she did from the fast-moving Gulf Stream current.
Her navigator, as well as one of the swim's two official observers, told The Associated Press over the
According to Nyad's team, she finished the swim Sept. 2 after roughly 53 hours in the water, becoming the first to do so without a shark cage. It was her fifth try over the course of more than 30 years.
weekend that Nyad swam in favorable currents the entire distance herself without aid.
Nyad's progress was tracked online via GPS by her team — data that is now fueling speculation that Nyad stopped swimming or received assistance for hours at a time in the middle of the Florida Straits.
Many wonder about a roughly seven-hour stretch when Nyad apparently didn't stop to eat or drink, recalling her 2012 attempt when she got onto the boat for hours during rough weather. Nyad eventually got back into the water
THE
QUC
to try finishing, but her team was criticized for delaying the release of that information to the public.
Some swimmers analyzing the available data say Nyad, who has said she tends to swim at a speed of roughly 1.5 mph, appeared to maintain sprinter's pace or faster for a considerable amount of time.
Navigator John Bartlett said the increased speed was due to the Gulf Stream working in her favor, nothing more.
"At some points we were doing almost 4 miles an hour," Bartlett said. "That's just the way it works. If the current is in your favor at all, that explains it."
Some of Nyad's critics also question whether she violated the traditions of her sport — many follow strict guidelines known as the English Channel rules — by using a specialized mask and bodysuit to protect herself from jellyfish.
Nyad never said she would follow English Channel rules, and she wore a full, non-neoprene body suit, gloves, booties and a silicone mask at night, when jellyfish are a particular problem, and removed the suit once she got over the reef on her approach to Key West.