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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Manny Ramirez might have hit the ball
just a little too hard.
|  | | Catcher Sandy Alomar tags out Carlos Febles at home in the second inning.
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With one out and the go-ahead run on first base in the seventh
inning Friday night, Ramirez hit a line drive to the gap in left
center. But the ball bounced over the wall for a ground-rule
double, forcing Roberto Alomar to hold at third.
He stayed there, the Cleveland Indians never managed another
scoring threat, and Gregg Zaun's eighth-inning homer gave the
Kansas City Royals a 3-2 win.
"That's the way it goes. You can't stop the ball from bouncing
over the fence," said Cleveland manager Charlie Manuel, whose team
fell one game behind Oakland in the AL wild-card race.
The five-time AL Central division champions could be eliminated
from the division race with a loss and a Chicago win Saturday.
Zaun's seventh homer, off Steve Karsay (5-9), gave Kansas City
the win in a game delayed 1 hour, 50 minutes by rain in the third
inning. It barely cleared the wall in right center, over a leaping
Kenny Lofton's glove.
"I've never, ever hit a game-winning home run," Zaun said. "I
almost had a heart attack rounding second base, because Kenny
Lofton's such a good jumper. If anybody could have gotten it, he
could."
Karsay also thought Lofton might come down with the ball.
"At first I didn't think he had hit it that well. Then I
thought Kenny had a good chance to climb the wall and bring it
back," Karsay said. "Obviously, it was just a bit out of his
reach."
Ricky Bottalico (8-6), Kansas City's fourth pitcher, earned the
win with two innings of relief.
The Indians went up 2-0 in the second against starter Brian
Meadows when Sandy Alomar hit an RBI double and scored on a single
by Omar Vizquel.
Kansas City cut it to 2-1 in the second on an RBI single by
Carlos Febles. Febles was thrown out trying to score on Johnny
Damon's double. The Royals tied it at 2 in the fourth on Mark
Quinn's RBI single.
Both teams missed chances to score in the middle innings when a
second round of showers threatened to force a postponement.
Cleveland reliever Chris Nichting was lifted with the bases
loaded and two outs in the sixth after hitting Joe Randa, walking
Quinn and then hitting Zaun. Steve Reed defused
the threat when he got Febles to hit into a force play.
After Ramirez's seventh-inning double, Paul Spoljaric came on to
record two quick outs. He went 3-0 on Jim Thome but got Thome to
ground back to the mound, and then struck out David Segui to end
the inning.
"When the bullpen does its job, it creates games like this,"
Royals manager Tony Muser said. "It gave us the opportunity for a
big hit, and Zaun delivered."
Game notes
Ramirez has reached base safely in 48 straight games, the
longest such streak in the AL this year. ... Quinn threw Ramirez
out at second in the third inning, his eighth outfield assist of
the year. That leads AL rookies. ... Meadows, who didn't return
after the rain delay, was denied a chance to win a fifth straight
start in September. ... Cleveland's Sandy Alomar passed Luke Sewell
into third place in the number of games caught for the Indians.
Alomar started his 944th game as Cleveland's catcher. ... Kansas
City's Rey Sanchez went 2-for-4, extending his hitting streak to 12
games.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Cleveland Clubhouse
Kansas City Clubhouse
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Baltimore 3
Boston 1
Detroit 9
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