Thank Goodness for the Royals; Indians Win Third Straight in 14-6 Blowout

The Indians had plenty of fireworks on Saturday night at Progressive Field, as the team hit five homers including a pair of three-run homers by Cesar Hernandez and Oscar Mercado in a 14-6 win over the Royals. The Indians trailed 2-0 but put up a six-spot in the 4th to take the lead for good.

Many baseball fans in the city of Cleveland are on board with the notion that the Indians are running on fumes after the massive amount of injuries they've had to deal with.

The club has gotten back a few players, but overall they are still a wounded group, and the nine-game losing streak the team encountered recently couldn't have been that much of a surprise. 

If there's one thing that can turn that baseball frown upside down it's a four-game series with the Kansas City Royals.

How bad are the Royals? They've lost 15 of their last 18 to drop to 36-53, and they are a season-worst 17 games under .500.

That's a far cry from many who felt with new ownership and being aggressive in free agency that the Royals might challenge in the AL Central. 

Instead, Kansas City sits in last place in the division, and it doesn't feel like they will be climbing out of the cellar anytime soon. 

On to Saturday, after two nights of back-to-back walkoff homers for the Tribe, this time they beat up the Royals with 14 runs, five homers, on 17 hits.

Every player in the Indians starting nine had at least one hit, while six players had at least two hits. 

The game was put away with a pair of three-run homers, the first by Cesar Hernandez in the 4th inning that made it 6-2. 

Then with the lead slowly fading, the offense bailed out the bullpen with four runs in the 7th, and a run in the 8th. 

Sunday the team can finish off the Royals with a four-game sweep as they enter the All-Star break in Colorado. 

That break couldn't come soon enough for the Tribe, as they are desperate to get arms for the pen and  some pop in the lineup back instead of struggling to push across 3-4 run per night. 

For now, it's the little things that matter, and for the Indians they've broken out of their shell with three straight wins, and they've re-established that chip on their shoulder that has helped them win the division last year and also back in 2016.