The Cleveland Guardians defeated the Kansas City Royals, 10-7, to split the opening series 2-2.
Logan Allen earned his first win of the season. He pitched two innings, allowed one hit, and struck out one hitter. Royals' Jake Brentz took the loss. He threw 2/3 of an inning, allowed two runs on one hit, and struck out one hitter.
The Guardians scored two runs in the first inning after the first three hitters reached base. Then Oscar Mercado hit a two-run homerun in the fourth inning to double the lead to 4-1.
After scoring once in the third, the Royals tied the game with three runs in the fourth on RBIs between Nicky Lopez, Whit Merrifield, and Bobby Witt, Jr. – one unearned on a throwing error.
With two outs in the seventh, Jose Ramirez and Franmil Reyes each drove in a run to stretch the lead to 6-4. The Royals answered in the bottom of the inning with a run on a fielder’s choice to cut the lead to 6-5.
In the eighth inning, Steven Kwan hit a bases-clearing, two-out, three-run triple to extend the lead to 9-5, and in the ninth, Oscar Mercado batted in the team's final run, one of his three RBI. Also for the Guardians, Owen Miller had three hits, while Franmil Reyes and Amed Rosario each had two hits and an RBI.
For the Royals, Whit Merrifield and Salvador Perez each had two hits and an RBI. Andrew Benintendi went three-for-three, and hit a two-run homerun in the ninth to cut the lead to 10-7, but Emmanuel Clase retired the next three hitters to preserve the win.
The Guardians will continue the road trip tomorrow at 4:10 PM against the Cincinnati Reds for the first of two games at Great American Ball Park.