Indians Gain Sweep of Royals Following 3-2 Win in KC; Thee Takeaways

The Indians are on their way back home following what could be described as a successful road trip in which the team started 1-4 and won their last four to end

The Indians are on their way back home following what could be described as a successful road trip in which the team started 1-4 and won their last four to end the nine-game swing with a 5-4 record.

Wednesday night in Kansas City the team celebrated Independence Day with a hard fought 3-2 win over the Royals, taking their mark to 48-37 on the season, and they are now 7-2 this year against KC.

The offense got off to a quick start, staking starter Trevor Bauer to a 3-0 lead just two innings in, and it looked like they were on easy street.

Thanks though to a couple lapses the Royals were able to scratch across single runs in the 3rd and 5th to close it to a 3-2 affair.

Bauer through was able to stay focused, and ended the night going 7.2 innings with eight K's for the win, and the pen did the rest as the Tribe secured the one-run win.

Here's three takeaways from the win as the team gets an off day Thursday before a homestand starting on Friday.

1. Beautiful Bauer

The Royals had gotten to Trevor Bauer the last time they faced him, knocking him out 4.2 innings in as he allowed five runs on 11 hits.

Bauer was back on Wednesday night, throwing a solid 7.2 innings, striking out eight, allowing two runs before he turned it over to the pen to do the rest.

He's now 8-6 on the season with an ERA of 2.45, throwing 108 pitches in the win, 68 for strikes.

He did enough to earn the win as he kept his composure after KC scored on a steal of home after a miscue by Jason Kipnis in the 3rd, and then another run in the 5th.

Bauer now has 156 strikeouts this season in 121.1 innings pitched.

2. Staking Out the Early Lead

The Royals scratched starter Ian Kennedy earlier in the day, which was a blessing for the Indians as he had recorded his only win of the season against the Tribe, and turned to unproven Trevor Oaks, who was pitching in just his fourth game in the Majors.

The result was good for the Indians, as they quickly got out to a 3-0 edge thanks to a pair of runs in the first on a Michael Brantley double and a sac fly by Edwin Encarnacion, and then a single run in the second on a sac fly by Greg Allen.

While it would have been nice to get more, the team did what it had to do to build the early lead, and then the offense really did little else, recording just four hits the entire night as the Royals used four pitchers to hold them in check.

It didn't matter with the way Bauer threw, as well as Oliver Perez and new all-time save leader Cody Allen. It was good to see on a night when the offense wasn't at its best to get an early lead and it hold up.

3. Your New Save King

After recording his 139th save as a member of the Indians on Tuesday night, the team turned right back to Cody Allen in Wednesday's game, and despite a one-out double he recorded two K's to earn save 140 and the win for the Tribe.

He actually struck out the side but on the 5th pitch of the one-out at-bat Alex Gordon doubled to put the tying run at second.

Allen though was determined to set the record, gaining two more strikeouts and getting the save for the Indians, his 18th of the season to preserve the win.

With his 140th save he passes Bob Wickman for the most saves in Indians history, a record worthy of noting since a lot of fans have called for Allen to be replaced in the closer role by Andrew Miller the last two seasons.