On a Wednesday afternoon when the Kansas City heat indices approached 110 degrees, the Indians kept their cool enough to rout the defending champions 11-4 and win the three-game series, two games to one.
The Tigers lost to the Twins 4-1 Wednesday afternoon, so the Indians lead the AL Central by 7.5 games. Cleveland (56-38) has the best winning percentage in the American league –.596.
A Jason Kipnis home run put them ahead in the first inning, shutout pitching by Carlos Carrasco suppressed the Royals for six innings and Tyler Naquin continued his unexpected rookie power surge with three extra-base hits.