The Indians need Matt LaPorta's first grand slam, some good work by the bullpen and a snorkle and flippers to weather four rain delays and beat the Royals Saturday night at Kauffman Stadium.
View full sizeThe Indians' Matt LaPorta hits a grand slam in the fourth inning during Saturday's game at Kansas City, Mo.Updated 2:47 a.m.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- It rained and rained and rained Saturday night at Kauffman Stadium.
No one built an ark, but it might not have been a bad idea as the Indians stayed afloat long enough to beat the Royals, 6-4, in a game that was delayed four times by rain for a total of three hours and 40 minutes.
The game itself lasted two hours and 57 minutes.
"It was a long day at work," said manager Manny Acta. "The rain didn't seem to want to go away.
Outfielder Trevor Crowe added, "That has to be a record for rain delays, right? We're lucky there was a lot of football on TV."
The Indians, one of the least powerful teams in the American League, used their second grand slam in as many games to win their third straight. Saturday's slam came off the bat of Matt LaPorta and the Indians needed everyone of the runs he delivered.
LaPorta, in an 0-for-15 slump, hammered a 2-1 fastball from Sean O'Sullivan (2-6, 6.58) with two out in the fourth to make it 5-0. It was LaPorta's first career slam and followed Shin-Soo Choo's slam in Friday's 11-4 victory.
"This is a big ballpark so I didn't know if it was out," said LaPorta, who has had an up and down year. "I'm just glad it went out. It's nice to come up big for the team."
The Indians have hit seven slams this season. For a team that entered the game ranked 11th in the AL in homers, it's fair to say they've had more than their fair share of baseball's biggest hit.
Michael Brantley, following a two-minute rain delay at the end of the third, jump-started the fourth with a single. It extended his hitting streak to 18 straight games. It's the longest by an Indians rookie since Hall of Famer Larry Doby hit in 21 straight in 1948. It's the longest by an Indian of any status since Casey Blake hit in 26 straight in 2007.
Brantley hasn't worn out the baseball during the streak -- he entered the game hitting .284 (23-for-81) during the streak -- but he has been persistent. Asdrubal Cabrera and Choo followed with singles to give the Indians a 1-0 lead. Choo's single gave him five hits and eight RBI in the past two games.
Shelley Duncan's single past third loaded the bases for LaPorta.
"LaPorta's big blast helped us out," said Acta. "It gave us a five-run lead. . .He just had two days off to help him clear his head."
Justin Masterson, making what was probably his last start of the season, gave up a leadoff single to Jarrod Dyson in the first before retiring nine straight. After the Indians' long fourth inning, Masterson gave up singles to Mike Aviles and Billy Butler to start the fourth, but Wilson Betemit hit into a force play at third.
Masterson had a 2-2 count on Josh Fields as the umpires called for the tarp. He did not pitch again in the game.
"We just sat around and watched a lot of football," said Masterson, on what the Indians did during the delays. "Everyone was watching the football games and wondering why the game wasn't called."
The Indians want to limit Masterson's innings to around 180. He's never started a full season in the big leagues before this season and they're trying to protect his arm.
After throwing 3 1/3 innings Saturday, he's at 176 1/3. It will be interesting to see if the Indians let him make a couple of relief appearances over the final 14 games of the season.
"I'll take what they give me," he said.
When play resumed in the fourth, Justin German relieved Masterson. He ended the fourth with no problems, but gave up four runs in the fifth to make it a 5-4 game. Rookie Jai Miller and Mike Aviles hit two-run homers. It was Miller's first big-league homer.
Dusty Hughes high Choo with two on and one out in the fifth.
After hitting May, Germano quickly went off the tracks as evidenced by Miller and Aviles' homers. He worked his way through the fifth and retired the side in order in the sixth just in time to have the game stopped for a fourth time.
Masterson pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings. He allowed three hits, struck out four and didn't walk a batter. O'Sullivan allowed five runs on six hits in four innings.
There were four delays. The start of the game was delayed by 36 minutes. Then came a two minute delay just before the start of the fourth. Play stopped with one out in the bottom of the fourth for 1 hour and 28 minutes. Play was again stopped after Germano retired the Royals to end the sixth. That delay lasted 1 hour and 39 minutes.
The Indians made it 6-4 in the eighth on Jayson Nix's single following singles by Choo and Jordan Brown. Joe Smith (2-2), Rafael Perez, Frank Herrmann and Chris Perez followed Germano. Chris Perez worked the ninth for his 21st save. He's converted 16 of his last 17 chances.
"The bullpen did what it's done for us pretty much the whole second half," said Acta. "It stopped the bleeding and gave us an opportunity to stay on top during all the rain delays. . .And Nix's RBI in the eighth was huge. We needed that cushion because of the way they've been swinging the bat against us."
The Indians are 7-6 against the Royals.
The official scorer awarded the victory to Smith. When a starter doesn't go five innings, the official scorer can use his discretion to award the victory. Smith worked a scoreless seventh.
Brown was pinch-hitting for Travis Hafner. The Indians said there was nothing wrong with Hafner, but they didn't want to take a chance with his right shoulder stiffening because of all the rain delays.
When asked if he felt the game should have been called before nine innings, Acta said, "We played nine innings and no one got hurt. That's the main thing."
To reach this Plain Dealer Reporter: phoynes@plaind.com, 216-999-5158