CLEVELAND, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Casey Blake homered on the first pitch in the bottom of the ninth Friday night, giving the Cleveland Indians a 5-4 victory over Kansas City.
The Indians trailed by three going into the seventh, but Franklin Gutierrez hit a two-run homer in that inning and Victor Martinez tied it with a solo shot in the eighth.
David Riske (1-4) served up the home-run ball to Blake, who disappeared into a mob of teammates as he crossed home plate. Cleveland remained 5 1/2 games in front of Detroit in the American League Central.
Cleveland starter C.C. Sabathia struck out 13, a career high, but gave up four runs over seven innings.
The Indians' relief corps shut down the Royals, with Joe Borowski (4-5) pitching the top of the ninth to get the victory.
It was the Royals' eighth loss in nine games.
