Written by Jonathan Knight

---

ONCE AGAIN, THE COMEBACK KIDS: The Indians’ last three victories have all been of the come-from-behind variety. Last year they tallied 36 come-from-behind wins.

WINNING WITHOUT QUALITY: Though the Indians have now won five of their last six games, they only received quality starts from their starting pitchers twice during the stretch (Derek Lowe on Friday, Josh Tomlin on Thursday).

ALL-TIME TOTALS: The Indians extended their lead in their all-time series with the Royals to 298-278 and pushed their lead over the Mariners to 203-159.

LATE HEROICS: Thursday night’s comeback marked the Tribe’s first victory of the season in which they trailed after eight innings. They racked up four of these last year.

TURNAROUND TOMLIN: With his dazzling start on Thursday night (8 IP, 5 H, 0 BB, 7 SO, 1 ER), Josh Tomlin lowered his season ERA from 8.31 to 4.86.

BULLPEN BOUNCES BACK: After a rough weekend in Kansas City (6.28 ERA), the Cleveland bullpen turned things around big time in Seattle, not allowing a run and only three hits in 10 innings in Seattle.

KINGS OF K.C., PART 1: The weekend onslaught marked the Tribe’s first sweep in Kansas City since April of 2008. More recently, they swept the Royals in Cleveland last April. 

BACK TO BACK: The offensive explosion on Saturday and Sunday marked the first time they’d scored double digits in back-to-back games since July 25-26, 2009 in Seattle.

A ROYAL FLUSH: The Indians have defeated the Royals in 15 of their last 21 meetings, 18 of their last 24, and 23 of their last 32.

KINGS OF K.C., PART 2: Indians have posted a winning record in Kansas City in each of the last five seasons, with a combined mark of 30-18 over that stretch. They haven’t lost a series in K.C. since dropping two of three there in August of 2010.

FINALLY COMING THROUGH: After hitting just .156 with runners in scoring position over the first five games of the season, the Indians hit .385 with runners in scoring position in the three-game set against Kansas City  and then .308 against Seattle.

OVERTIME ON THE ROAD: Saturday night’s wild win snapped the Tribe’s four-game losing streak in extra innings. They hadn’t won an extra-inning game on the road since last May 5 in Oakland.

FINDING IT: In five innings of work since his meltdown on opening day, Chris Perez hasn’t allowed a run and permitted three hits and one walk while striking out four. His save Saturday night was the 70th of his career.

COMING OUT IN KANSAS CITY: The Royals drew better crowds for the opening weekend of their home schedule (83,200) than the Indians did the weekend before (72,550).

COMING ALIVE: In the three games against Kansas City, Shelley Duncan had an on-base percentage of .546 with four RBI, five walks, and five runs scored. After hitting .095 in the season’s first five games, Casey Kotchman went 5 for 11 (with an on-base percentage of .571) with five runs scored against Kansas City.

DROPOFF: Following his sterling performance on opening day, in his next two starts, Justin Masterson pitched 8.2 innings, allowed 15 hits, 5 walks, and struck out only 3 with an ERA of 11.42. His woeful start in Seattle on Tuesday was statistically the worst of his career.

BACK-TO-BACK DISAPPOINTMENTS: Justin Masterson has failed to post quality starts in his last two outings, something he did only twice last season. Last year his first seven starts and nine of his first 10 all qualified as quality starts.

LOWE POINT: Derek Lowe walked six batters in just over four innings on Wednesday night after walking only one in 13.2 innings in his first two starts.

SWEET SEATTLE: The Indians have now won 10 of their last 13 games in Seattle and 12 of their last 16. They haven’t lost a series in Seattle since getting swept in three straight in April of 2003.

BETTER IN THE CLUTCH: Going into the Seattle series, Indians’ opponents were hitting .262 overall but .372 with runners in scoring position. Things evened out against the Mariners, as Seattle hit .240 overall, .192 with runners in scoring position.

WALKS IN THE PARK: The Indians lead the AL in walks (57). Conversely, on Thursday night, Indians’ pitchers did not allow a walk for the first time all season.

A YEAR AGO: After 11 games in 2011, the Indians stood at 8-3, first place in the AL Central, a game ahead of Chicago.

 

PROGRESS REPORT:

The Indians are averaging 5.82 runs per game and allowing 5.73. 

Batting average: .238 (11th in AL)

Slugging percentage: .421 (7th in AL)

On-base percentage: .331 (4th in AL)

Walks: 57 (1st in AL)

Strikeouts: 89 (12th in AL)

With runners in scoring position: .289 (28 for 97)

 

Team ERA: 4.79 (11th in AL) 58 ER 109 IP

Walks allowed: 39 (8th in AL)

Strikeouts: 77 (12th in AL)

Opponents with runners in scoring position: .314 (38 for 121)

Errors: 7 (5th-best in AL)

 

INDIANS’ OVERALL RECORD IN GAMES STARTED BY:

Lowe 2-1 (2 quality starts)

Gomez 1-0

Jimenez 1-1 (1 quality start)

Tomlin 1-1 (1 quality start)

Masterson 1-2 (1 quality start)

 

KANSAS CITY SERIES BY THE NUMBERS:

The Indians outscored the Royals, 32-19. Each team committed two errors. Four of the Indians’ runs and one of the Royals’ runs was unearned.

 

Overall Hitting

Cleveland 40 for 120 (.333), 16 walks (.412 on-base percentage)

Kansas City 36 for 115 (.313), 6 walks (.347 on-base percentage)

 

With Runners in Scoring Position

Cleveland 15 for 39 (.385), 22 left on base

Kansas City 16 for 40 (.400), 20 left on base

 

Extra-Base Hits

Cleveland 18 (7 HR)

Kansas City 14 (1 HR)

 

Overall Pitching

Cleveland 28 IP, 36 H, 6 BB, 16 SO, 18 ER, 5.79 ERA

Kansas City 28 IP, 40 H, 16 BB, 20 SO, 28 ER, 9.00 ERA

 

Starting Pitchers

Cleveland 2-0; 13.2 IP, 20 H, 3 BB, 7 SO, 8 ER, 5.27 ERA

Kansas City 0-2; 10.2 IP, 24 H, 9 BB, 5 SO, 17 ER, 14.34 ERA

 

Relief Pitchers

Cleveland 14.1 IP, 16 H, 3 BB, 9 SO, 10 ER, 6.28 ERA 

Kansas City 17.1 IP, 16 H, 7 BB, 15 SO, 11 ER, 5.71 ERA

 

SEATTLE SERIES BY THE NUMBERS:

The Mariners outscored the Indians, 13-12. Each team committed two errors. Two of the Indians’ runs were unearned.

 

Overall Hitting

Cleveland 24 for 101 (.238), 13 walks (.325 on-base percentage)

Seattle 23 for 96 (.240), 14 walks (.336 on-base percentage)

 

With Runners in Scoring Position

Cleveland 8 for 26 (.308), 25 left on base

Seattle 5 for 26 (.192), 22 left on base

 

Extra-Base Hits

Cleveland 6 (1 HR)

Seattle 8 (3 HR)

 

Overall Pitching

Cleveland 26 IP, 23 H, 14 BB, 15 SO, 13 ER, 4.50 ERA

Seattle 27 IP, 24 H, 13 BB, 31 SO, 10 ER, 3.33 ERA

 

Starting Pitchers

Cleveland 1-1, 16 IP, 20 H, 10 BB, 8 SO 13 ER, 7.31 ERA

Seattle 1-0; 19 IP, 18 H, 5 BB, 20 SO, 7 ER, 3.32 ERA

 

Relief Pitchers

Cleveland 1-0, 2 saves; 10 IP, 3 H, 4 BB, 8 SO, 0 ER, 0.00 ERA

Seattle 0-2, 1 blown save, 1 save; 8 IP, 6 H, 8 BB, 11 SO, 3 ER, 3.38 ERA

 

UP NEXT: 

at Oakland Athletics [7-7]

(Friday 10:07 p.m.; Saturday 9:07 p.m., Sunday, 4:07 p.m.)

Last year: Indians won season series, 5-2

 

Kansas City Royals [3-9]

(Tuesday 7:05 p.m.; Wednesday 7:05 p.m.; Thursday 12:05 p.m.)

Last year: Indians won season series, 12-6

This year: Indians lead, 3-0

Follow @jknightwriter