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Cleveland Guardians score, highlights Tuesday | Brayan Rocchio powers Guardians past Royals
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- Cleveland Guardians score, highlights Tuesday | Brayan Rocchio powers Guardians past Royals
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.
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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).
Aug 23, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians shortstop Brayan Rocchio (4) celebrates after scoring during the third inning against the Texas Rangers at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
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.
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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.
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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.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Guardians score third straight win, beat Kansas City Royals
