Cleveland Indians: Road Trip Begins With Dominant Victory

5 - 11 - 10     at Kansas City     W, 8 - 2     12 - 18

     The road trip the Indians began in Kansas City is vitally important not only due to the slow start by the Tribe, but also because six of the eight games away from home are against teams that are well below the .500 mark.  One of those teams is the Royals, and in the series opener, Cleveland dominated from the get - go to pick up a huge victory.
     Jake Westbrook went six innings, while only allowing one run, to pick up his first win in over two years at the major league level.  That combined with an offensive eruption for the second game in a row made it a satisfying win.
     Russell Branyan hit his first homer of the season, a two - run shot in the second inning to give the Indians the lead for good, but the Tribe's scoring was far from over.
     Two frames later, Jhonny Peralta stroked a two - run double to the gap in left - center field and Cleveland had all the runs they would need.
     In the seventh, the Indians blew the game wide open with excellent situational hitting.  Grady Sizemore and Shin - Soo Choo set the table with a one - out walk and single, respectively.  After a double steal, Travis Hafner drove in a run with a groundout, bringing up Austin Kearns.  Kearns delivered the big blow by singling to left, scoring Choo, and before the inning was over, Mark Grudzielanek had drawn a bases loaded walk.
     Branyan added one more highlight in the ninth as he hit a solo home run over the right field fence, setting the final score at 8 - 2.
    The win was the Tribe's second in a row, their first such streak in over three weeks.