KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Shin-Soo Choo put his slump behind him in a big way Friday night.

Choo hit three homers, including a grand slam, and the Cleveland Indians moved out of the AL Central basement with an 11-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

The 28-year-old right fielder, a native of South Korea, was batting just .162 (6-for-37) in his last 10 games before busting out of the rut with his sixth career multihomer game and a career-best seven RBIs.

“I missed so many fastballs,” Choo said of his rough stretch. “I fouled them off or missed them. I have so many things on my mind. After a ground-ball double play on my first at-bat, I said before my second at-bat maybe I’ll try just see the ball and swing at it. It worked.”

Choo was on deck when Asdrubal Cabrera grounded out to end the Cleveland ninth.

“There was no telling what he was going to do,” Indians manager Manny Acta said. “We all wanted to see him get up there one more time just to see because only a few times it (four homers) has happened in the game. We were just hoping Cabrera got on somehow, someway just to give him a chance.

“He was in the zone today. Choo was a one-man wrecking crew today to do what he did.”

Lou Marson added two hits and three RBIs for Cleveland, which moved into fourth in the division, a half-game ahead of the Royals.

Mike Aviles and Billy Butler hit consecutive homers in the sixth for Kansas City, which has lost 10 of 14. Butler went 4-for-4 and Aviles had three hits.

Choo hit a two-run shot off Kyle Davies (8-10) in Cleveland’s four-run second inning and connected against Bryan Bullington in the sixth for his third career slam, making it 9-0.

He picked up his first three-homer game with a solo drive off rookie Greg Holland in the eighth. The shot gave him 19 homers and 79 RBIs on the season.

“Maybe the best game of my life,” Choo said. “I can’t forget about this game.”

Choo became the 12th player to hit three homers in a game this season in the majors. He is the first Indians slugger to accomplish the feat since Travis Hafner on July 20, 2004, against the Angels.

“I tried everything,” Royals catcher Brayan Pena said. “I went soft, I went hard away, hard inside. He’s the best hitter on their team and you don’t want him to hurt you. You pitch around him or at least try to get the guys in front of him. He was pretty much the one who beat us.”

Carlos Carrasco (1-0) earned his first major league victory, allowing three runs and eight hits in six innings.

Davies gave up five runs and eight hits in five plus innings. He was 8-0 with a 1.26 ERA in his last eight September starts dating to 2008.

“I lost command and I didn’t pitch very well,” Davies said.

Michael Brantley led off the game with a single to extend his hitting streak to 17 games, the longest by an Indians rookie since Cory Snyder hit in 17 straight in September 1986.

Notable

The Indians skipped RHP Mitch Talbot for the weekend series at Kansas City. Talbot left his previous start Sunday at Minnesota with shoulder inflammation after facing only three batters.

• Indians claimed outfielder Chad Huffman off waivers from the New York Yankees and optioned him to Triple-A Columbus of the International League. Huffman hit .274 with 20 doubles and 10 homers in 104 games with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate. Huffman, a 2007 Pacific Coast League All-Star and a 2006 second-round pick of the San Diego Padres, appeared in nine games with New York this season and went 3 for 18 with two RBIs and a run.

CLEVELAND — Shelley Duncan won his second game in a week for the Indi­ans, only this time it didn’t take two home runs to do it — far from it.

Duncan’s groundball with two outs in the 11th inning Thursday night was botched by Angels third baseman Albert Callaspo, allowing Duncan to reach and Trevor Crowe to score from third with the winning run in Cleveland’s 3-2 victory.

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Callaspo charged the chopper from Duncan and was able to field the ball, but dropped it on the transfer and was charged with an error, a gift the Indians were more than willing to accept.

“It was a rainy night. The grass is wet,” said Duncan of the conditions in a rain-filled game that had its start delayed by nine minutes. “That was Plan C right there.” The celebration followed a deflating 10th inning that saw the Indians load the bases but fail to score when Jordan Brown bounced into a rally-killing double play.

“It was a bizarre ending but we’ll take it,” said Cleve­land manager Manny Acta. “That’s baseball. That’s why I think it’s the greatest game in the world. You can’t get it done with the bases loaded and one out, but you end up winning it on a broken-bat single or error, whatever they called it, with two outs and a runner on third base.”

Both teams got quality efforts from their starting pitchers, Cleveland’s Fausto Carmona allowing two runs on four hits and striking out eight over seven innings, while Los Angeles’ Ervin Santana allowed the same on four hits over eight innings.

Carmona shut the Angels out on two hits over the first six innings before a pair of solo home runs from Hideki Matsui and Mike Napoli tied the game at two in the seventh and ended the righthander’s consecutive scoreless innings streak at 22.

“He threw the ball well again,” Acta said of Carmona, who entered the night with consecutive complete-game efforts in his previous two outings. “Our bullpen did their part, too. They kept us in the game until we were able to score.”

An adjustment on his change-up has paid huge dividends for Carmona, who is in the midst of his most effective stretch of the season, posting a 1.13 ERA over his last three starts.

“The grip on the change-up and the speed differential on his fastball and change-up have really helped,” Acta said. “He’s pounding the strike zone.”

Carmona’s consecutive scoreless innings streak equals his career high and is the longest by an Indians pitcher since Cliff Lee tossed 27 straight scoreless innings during his Cy Young season in 2008. It is the second-longest streak in the American League this year.

Carmona contributed mightily to the Indians’ 13 strikeouts on the night, which equaled Cleveland’s seasonhigh in the department.

The Angels began their top of the 11th inning with a leadoff single from Bobby Abreu off Indians reliever Rafael Perez. But Perez erased Abreu on a double-play ball from Torii Hunter before getting Matsui to ground out to end the inning.

Cleveland’s 11th began with Jayson Nix grounding out against Angels reliever Bobby Cassevah before Crowe sliced a double to left field and was advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt from Asdrubal Cabrera. Callaspo’s error followed to give the Indians the win.

Michael Brantley extended his hitting streak to 16 games with a single in his final at-bat in the 10th. The streak is the longest by a Cleveland rookie since Cory Snyder’s 17-game streak in 1987 and the longest by an Indians player since Ryan Garko hit in 17 straight in 2007. The Indians went 5-4 against the Angels this year, winning the season series for the first time since 2004.

Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.

CLEVELAND — Indians manager Manny Acta has been talking about the importance of limiting walks since the start of spring training.

His pitchers haven’t been lis­tening.

Cleveland’s staff entered Thursday leading the Ameri­can League with 526 walks for a whopping average of 3.6 per game.

“We started preaching it in spring training and into the season,” Acta said. “We’ve made some progress, but it’s going to take some time. You can preach all you want. Some­times it takes time. “That’s been a problem the last two years. Some of it is a lot of young pitchers getting their first crack at the major leagues. We have a few guys that are getting better at it, but it comes with experience. You have to trust your stuff.”

The top three starters in Cleveland’s rotation — Fausto Carmona (66 walks in 186 2 / 3

innings), Justin Masterson (73 in 173 innings) and Mitch Tal­bot (66 in 147 1 / 3 innings) — had contributed significantly to the walk total through Wednesday, but it’s been a glaring defi­ciency in the bullpen. Tony Sipp (35 in 57 2 / 3 innings) had walked the most among relievers entering Thursday, fol­lowed by closer Chris Perez (27 in 58 2 / 3 innings), Joe Smith (23

in 33 2 / 3 innings), Rafael Perez (21 in 56 innings), Jensen Lewis (18 in 29 1 / 3 innings) and Hector

Ambriz (17 in 48 1 / 3 innings). Minnesota has set the bar in the department, walking 201 fewer batters than the Indians to lead the league.

“Our guys have to realize that the 200 walk difference between the Twins, that has to change,” Acta said.

Donald’s down

Acta said second baseman Jason Donald (bruised tendon right index finger) would not make the upcoming six-game road trip, but that he expected him to play again before the season is complete.

“That’s our hope,” Acta said. “I don’t see why not. They said 7-10 days originally, so we’ll see where he is after that.”

Brantley bit

The third time has definitely been the charm for outfielder Michael Brantley, who in his third stint with the Indians, looks like he belongs on the big league level.

Brantley entered Thursday batting .302 with two home runs, 12 RBIs and 19 runs in 32 games since being recalled from Triple-A Columbus. He was also riding a 15-game hitting streak, which accounts for the longest streak by an Indian this season.

Brantley, 22, hit just .157 with a homer and seven RBIs in 26 games over his first two terms in Cleveland. “He’s getting more consistent at­bats,” Acta said. “He knows he’s going to be in there every day.

Confidence helps. He also made some adjustments at Triple-A.

He’s a baseball player. He figures things out.”

Next up

The Indians begin a three-game series at Kansas City today.

Carlos Carrasco (0-0, 2.18 ERA) opens for Cleveland, opposing RHP Kyle Davies (8-9, 4.95), while Justin Masterson (6-12, 4.73) starts Saturday (7:10 p.m.) against RHP Sean O’Sullivan (1-5, 7.40).

Josh Tomlin (4-3, 4.17) goes for the Indians in the finale Sunday (2:10 p.m.), KC countering with RHP Luke Hochevar (5-5, 4.81).

Minor details

• Columbus took a 2-0 lead in its best-of-five Governors’ Cup Championship Series on Wednesday, turning back Durham 4-0 behind the pitching of Zach McAllister. McAllister, acquired in the Austin Kearns trade with the Yankees, tossed seven scoreless innings, allowing six hits and striking out five. The Clippers went for the series sweep Thursday night.
• Class A Lake County won the opener of the best-of-five Midwestern League Finals on Wednesday, beating Clinton 9-6. The Captains played Game 2 at Clinton on Thursday night.
• The Indians announced that they have extended their player development contracts with advanced Class A Kinston and rookie Class A Mahoning Valley through the 2012 seasons.

Roundin’ third

• Shin-Soo Choo entered Thursday with just three hits in his last 22 at­bats (six games), while Asdrubal Cabrera had just three hits in his last 25 at-bats (six games).
• Matt LaPorta did not start. He is riding an 0-for-14 skid and has three hits in his last 32 at-bats.

Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.

CLEVELAND – Indians manager Manny Acta has been talking about the importance of limiting walks since the start of spring training.

His pitchers haven’t been listening.

Cleveland’s staff entered Thursday leading the American League with 526 walks for a whopping average of 3.6 per game.

“We started preaching it in spring training and into the season,” Acta said. “We’ve made some progress, but it’s going to take some time. You can preach all you want. Sometimes it takes time.

“That’s been a problem the last two years. Some of it is a lot of young pitchers getting their first crack at the major leagues. We have a few guys that are getting better at it, but it comes with experience. You have to trust your stuff.”

The top three starters in Cleveland’s rotation – Fausto Carmona (66 walks in 186 2/3 innings), Justin Masterson (73 in 173 innings) and Mitch Talbot (66 in 147 1/3 innings) – had contributed significantly to the walk total through Wednesday, but it’s been a glaring deficiency in the bullpen.

Tony Sipp (35 in 57 2/3 innings) had walked the most among relievers entering Thursday, followed by closer Chris Perez (27 in 58 2/3 innings), Joe Smith (23 in 33 2/3 innings), Rafael Perez (21 in 56 innings), Jensen Lewis (18 in 29 1/3 innings) and Hector Ambriz (17 in 48 1/3 innings).

Minnesota has set the bar in the department, walking 201 fewer batters than the Indians to lead the league.

“Our guys have to realize that the 200 walk difference between the Twins, that has to change,” Acta said.

Donald’s down

Acta said second baseman Jason Donald (bruised tendon right index finger) would not make the upcoming six-game road trip, but that he expected him to play again before the season is complete.

“That’s our hope,” Acta said. “I don’t see why not. They said 7-10 days originally, so we’ll see where he is after that.”

Brantley bit

The third time has definitely been the charm for outfielder Michael Brantley, who in his third stint with the Indians, looks like he belongs on the big league level.

Brantley entered Thursday batting .302 with two home runs, 12 RBIs and 19 runs in 32 games since being recalled from Triple-A Columbus. He was also riding a 15-game hitting streak, which accounts for the longest streak by an Indian this season.

Brantley, 22, hit just .157 with a homer and seven RBIs in 26 games over his first two terms in Cleveland.     

“He’s getting more consistent at-bats,” Acta said. “He knows he’s going to be in there every day. Confidence helps. He also made some adjustments at Triple-A. He’s a baseball player. He figures things out.”

Next up

The Indians are off today, beginning three-game series at Kansas City on Friday (8:10 p.m.).

Carlos Carrasco (0-0, 2.18 ERA) opens the set for Cleveland, opposing RHP Kyle Davies (8-9, 4.95), while Masterson (6-12, 4.73) starts Saturday (7:10 p.m.) against RHP Sean O’Sullivan (1-5, 7.40).

Josh Tomlin (4-3, 4.17) goes for the Indians in the series finale Sunday (2:10 p.m.), KC countering with RHP Luke Hochevar (5-5, 4.81).   

Minor details

Columbus took a 2-0 lead in its best-of-five Governors’ Cup Championship Series on Wednesday, turning back Durham 4-0 behind the pitching of Zach McAllister. McAllister, acquired in the Austin Kearns trade with the Yankees, tossed seven scoreless innings, allowing six hits and striking out five. The Clippers went for the series sweep Thursday night. … Class A Lake County won the opener of the best-of-five Midwestern League Finals on Wednesday, beating Clinton, 9-6. Shortstop Casey Frawley went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs, while closer Preston Guilmet struck out four over two innings to earn his fourth playoff save. The Captains played Game 2 at Clinton on Thursday night. … The Indians announced that they have extended their player development contracts with advanced Class A Kinston and rookie Class A Mahoning Valley through the 2012 seasons. Kinston has been Cleveland’s affiliate since 1987, accounting for the longest tenure in the Carolina League. Mahoning Valley became an affiliate in 1999.

Roundin’ third

Shin-Soo Choo entered Thursday with just three hits in his last 22 at-bats (six games), while Asdrubal Cabrera had just three hits in his last 25 at-bats (six games). … Slumping Matt LaPorta did not start. He is riding an 0-for-14 skid and has three hits in his last 32 at-bats.  

Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.