CLEVELAND — The beat continued for the Indians on Thursday night.
With Fausto Carmona pitching like an ace and Cleveland’s offense at full throttle once again, the Indians routed the Royals 8-2 to complete a three-game sweep of their Central Division rivals.
Cleveland’s 10th straight victory at home improved the Indians to 16-8 on the season, their best start since 2007 — the last time they qualified for the postseason.
It was the fourth series sweep of the year for the Indians, who own a 4 1/2-game lead on the rest of the division, with every team in the Central other than Cleveland, under .500 on the year.
“It was a very good series,” manager Manny Acta said. “It seemed like we did just about everything in the three three games. “I’m proud of these guys. They’re staying even-keel. They deserve all the credit.”
As they have for much of the season, the Indians got quality efforts from their rotation against the Royals, culminating with a strong outing from Carmona, who was coming off a sub par start his last time out against the Twins.
Carmona (2-3, 5.15 ERA) allowed two runs on five hits over seven innings, shutting Kansas City out on three hits over the first six innings.
“I don’t think about (the Minnesota start). I just think about tonight,” said Carmona, who struck out two and walked two. “I was ready to go to the next inning.
“I think the team is playing really good. I was happy they played good again tonight.”
Carmona was backed by an offensive assault, that just like Wednesday night, began early.
Season-long slumpers Shin-Soo Choo and Carlos Santana provided the first-inning spark, hitting back-to-back two-out home runs off Royals starter Kyle Davies, who allowed all eight of Cleveland’s runs over just 3 1/3 innings.
“I can see that both of them are coming out of it,” Acta said. “It was nice to see.”
“I am feeling more confident,” said Santana, who went 1-for-4 after entering the night batting just .189. “Every day I am feeling more comfortable.”
The consecutive homers were two of four from the Indians, who hit five in the series opener Tuesday.
Grady Sizemore, who has been surging since leaving the disabled list, hit his fourth homer to lead off the third inning, and Shelley Duncan also hit a solo shot in the Indians’ decisive five-run fourth.
Sizemore going deep against the Royals was not a rare sight. Of his 133 career homers, 24 have come against Kansas City. The three-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove award winner has collected an extra-base hit in all nine of his games and has seven RBIs over the span.
Duncan was in the lineup in place of designated hitter Travis Hafner, who was a late scratch with inflammation in his right ankle.
Acta said Hafner, who is off to a fast start (.342, four homers and 11 RBIs in 21 games), will undergo an MRI today. The manager said Hafner took batting practice but was not able to run full-go.
Home cooking has been hot and plentiful for the Indians, whose 10-game winning streak at Progressive Field is their longest home streak since they won 13 straight in 1996 en route to their second straight division title.
Cleveland has hit 22 of its 29 home runs at home.
“We have swung the bat very well at home,” said Acta, whose club entered Thursday hitting .298 with a 6.2 runs per game average at home, as opposed to .248 and 4.4 on the road.
The Indians’ 16 wins in April matched the club record and is just the fourth time in franchise history that it has been accomplished, the last time coming in 1999, another playoff year.
The Indians are undoubtedly rolling, but aren’t looking ahead or planning their playoff trips yet.
“We’re taking it day by day, that’s all we’re doing,” Duncan said. “We’re not looking at series sweeps or who we play next.”
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
