Bannister snaps 13-start drought as Royals rout Indians

CLEVELAND -- Brian Bannister finally got a win as his Kansas City teammates kept piling up hits and runs.

Bannister won for the first time in nearly three months and Ryan Shealy homered twice and drove in five runs as the Royals totaled 17 hits to defeat the Cleveland Indians 13-3 Sunday.

Bannister (8-15) gave up four hits and three runs in the first inning, then settled down and won for the first time in 14 starts to snap his nine-game losing streak. He had not won since beating Colorado in an interleague game June 23. His last win over an AL club was June 1, a 6-1 triumph in Cleveland.

"Over the last couple of months, it seems like my confidence has been tested every time out," Bannister said. "I felt that today in the first inning, but it was nice that the offense exploded and took some of the pressure off my shoulders."

The right-hander improved to 3-1 with a 1.91 ERA in five career starts against the Indians after allowing three runs and six hits over six innings. He had been pounded for 10 hits and seven runs over 3 2/3 innings by Minnesota in his previous start Tuesday and had a 7.79 ERA during his losing streak.

"It will be much more fun going into my next start with this under my belt," Bannister said. "The offense stuck it to them and didn't shut it down. It was fun to watch."

Shealy had his second career multihomer game, giving him four homers and nine RBIs since being recalled from Triple-A Omaha on Tuesday. The five RBIs tied a career high.

"I'm getting pitches to hit and even the balls I'm not hitting hard are finding holes," Shealy said. "I'm going to try to ride this out."

Jose Guillen drove in three runs while David DeJesus and Alberto Callaspo had two RBIs apiece as Kansas City hit .366 (59-for-161) in the four-game series, winning the final three.

"Hopefully, it's one of those things that we can keep going," Royals manager Trey Hillman said.

DeJesus put Kansas City ahead 5-3 with a two-out, two-run single off Edward Mujica (2-2) in the fourth. Guillen followed with a two-run double off Juan Rincon.

Grady Sizemore doubled off Bannister to lead off Cleveland's first inning. Jhonny Peralta and Ryan Garko had RBI singles around a sacrifice fly by Victor Martinez for a 3-0 lead.

The Royals tied it at 3 in the third off Indians starter Jeremy Sowers. Shealy hit a solo homer in the second. In the third, Callaspo had an RBI double and scored on Shealy's two-out bloop single to right.

Sowers retired the side on eight pitches in the first, then needed 67 pitches to get through the next two innings.

"When you throw that many pitches in a couple innings, I didn't see it getting any better," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "It's a little far-fetched to think he's going to go out and find it."

Sowers gave up three runs and five hits over three innings, his shortest outing in 14 starts since June 30, a three-inning stint in a loss to the Chicago White Sox.

"I wasn't terrible, but I was leaving the ball up," Sowers said. "I think some of it could be a testament to their hitters. They were seeing the ball good the whole series and you run into teams like that sometimes."

The left-hander was coming off his best performance of the season when he yielded only four hits and one run over eight innings in a win Tuesday night in Baltimore.

Game notes
Cleveland used a season-high eight pitchers. ... Indians RHP Jensen Lewis had a different jersey hanging in his locker before the game. It was a replica top of that worn by Cleveland Browns running back Jamal Lewis. The Indians' Lewis, a lifelong Browns fan, was excited that he would be attending Sunday night's game against the rival Pittsburgh Steelers. ... Guillen has gone 21-for-51 (.412) during a 12-game hitting streak. ... Royals 3B Alex Gordon went 2-for-5 in his first game since Aug. 21. He had been out with a right hip injury. ... Bannister's father Floyd went 3-11 against Cleveland in his AL career, 1979-92.