KANSAS CITY -- Yordano Ventura is turning out to be just about what the Royals expected: pretty darn good.
Ventura breezed through seven innings against the Indians as the Royals notched a fourth straight victory, 4-1, and swept the two-game series from the Tribe in front of 19,938 fans on a sunny Wednesday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium.
The Indians got six hits, all singles, and one run off Ventura. He issued no walks and struck out three. The rookie right-hander improved his record to 4-5 and lowered his ERA to 3.20.
 
Royals use 4 sacrifice flies to beat Indians 4-1
 
This was his second straight win after an elbow scare on May 26 when he left a game against Houston in the third inning. Nothing serious was detected, and he skipped one start as a precaution.
Some daring baserunning helped get Ventura a 2-0 lead in the third inning.
Mike Moustakas led off with a double to the right-field wall and stopped at third on Alcides Escobar's single to right. Jarrod Dyson's sacrifice fly to center got Moustakas home, and then Nori Aoki singled to send Escobar to third.
Omar Infante popped up, and shortstop Mike Aviles had to battle the bright sun to catch the ball, landing on the seat of his pants in the dirt as he did so. Escobar, on the bag, then fled for home. The startled Aviles threw to pitcher Trevor Bauer, who hurriedly relayed and fired the ball high over catcher Yan Gomes' glove.
Escobar scored, turning Infante's pop into a sacrifice fly. Aoki took third on the error, but he was stranded there. The Royals made it 3-0 in the fourth on another sacrifice fly, this time by Escobar.
The Indians finally broke through against Ventura in the sixth. Michael Bourn and Lonnie Chisenhall each singled at the top of the inning before Ventura got two outs. However, Carlos Santana singled to right, scoring Bourn for a 3-1 score.
The fourth Royals' run, the fourth via a sacrifice fly, came in the seventh against reliever John Axford. Infante singled, took third on Eric Hosmer's single and scored as Billy Butler flied out to center.
The four sacrifice flies in one game tied a Royals club record, only the third time it's been done.
Royals reliever Wade Davis, riding a string of 18 scoreless innings, got into a jam in the eighth inning. The Indians loaded the bases with nobody out on Bourn's single, Chisenhall's walk and Michael Brantley's single. But Davis escaped by striking out both Jason Kipnis and Santana, and getting David Murphy to ground out.
Make that 19 straight shutout innings for Davis. And make it 19 saves for Greg Holland, who pitched a perfect ninth. He got help from Hosmer, who caught Jason Giambi's pop foul as he leaned far into the dugout.
 
Dick Kaegel / MLB.com
 

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