CLEVELAND – As manager Manny Acta put it, his Indians were pretty much asleep through the first seven innings at Progressive Field on Sunday.
They woke up in the eighth.
Scoring all of their runs in the eighth inning, the Indians came from behind to beat the Royals, 5-3, in the finale of a four-game series that left Cleveland in front of last-place Kansas City by 1½ games in the Central Division standings.
“It was a very nice win,” Acta said. “It was a great comeback after we were handled very well by (Royals starting pitcher) Bruce Chen. Chen just pretty much put us to sleep with that off-speed stuff. He always pitches good against us.”
Chen entered the day with a 3-0 record this season against the Indians and appeared headed for win No. 4, shutting Cleveland out on four hits over 6 2/3 innings.
Thankfully for the Indians, Royals manager Ned Yost decided Chen had had enough when the right-hander walked No. 9 hitter Lou Marson with two outs in the seventh.
The Indians didn’t score in the seventh, but they more than made up for it the following inning, with Chen in the dugout to watch all his effective work unravel.
With reliever Robinson Tejada on the mound to start the inning, Cleveland got leadoff singles from Asdrubal Cabrera and Shin-Soo Choo before Shelley Duncan clouted a three-run home run to tie the game.
Tejada got two outs before the Indians fired up the rally machine again, with Andy Marte reaching on a base hit before Luis Valbuena doubled to put runners on second and third. Pinch hitter Michael Brantley put the caps on the five-run inning with a two-run double down the right-field line.
The uprising got Indians starter Fausto Carmona off the hook for the loss.
Struggling with his command, Carmona lasted just five innings, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks. He failed to strike out a batter for just the third time in 32 starts this season.
“He was a little bit flat up in the zone,” Acta said. “He made a little adjustment but he threw too many pitches.”
Carmona allowed a run in the first and another in the fifth on a solo homer from Mike Aviles that put the Indians in the early hole. Aviles has hit half of his eight homers against Cleveland, this one accounting for the 5,000th homer in Royals history.
“I was down in the count,” Carmona said. “I had trouble with command. I don’t know why.”
Carmona (12-14, 3.79 ERA) will make one more start before the season is complete, but he’s already reversed his fortunes from last year, when he went 5-12 with a 6.32 ERA and was demoted to the minors for a seven-week stretch.
“I think this season for me was very, very good,” Carmona said. “It’s much better than last year. I’m throwing more strikes.”
Frank Herrmann allowed a run in the seventh but the Indians’ bullpen held firm from there, Rafael Perez and Vinnie Pestano shutting the Royals out the rest of the way.
Pestano, who was promoted from Triple-A Columbus Thursday, earned his first big league save in his second career appearance, retiring three of the four batters he faced in place of closer Chris Perez in the ninth.
Perez will rejoin the team today after leaving Friday for the birth of his son.
“Pestano was pretty impressive in getting his first major league save,” Acta said.
“We’re in that that type of situation right now where I don’t think anyone should feel any pressure coming in,” Acta said. “This is the time to see what these guys can do.
“Once we took the lead, I thought it was a great opportunity to get him out there.”
Pestano, who began the year at Double-A Akron, saved 14 games for Columbus, but this appearance was a bit more significant, coming at the highest level and with his parents and sister in attendance.
“Honestly, I didn’t feel that much different,” said Pestano, who became just the second Cleveland pitcher to record his first career save in his second appearance since Ed Farmer accomplished as much in 1971. “I was a lot more excited afterward. I’m just glad Manny Acta had enough faith in me to go out there and get the last three outs.”
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.
