KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Ryan O'Hearn and Hunter Dozier hit back-to-back home runs leading off the ninth inning against Cleveland closer Cody Allen to lift the Kansas City Royals over the Indians 5-4 on Friday night.
After a broken water pipe near the outfield fountains led to a half-hour delay in the fourth, the Royals and Indians put on a splashy finish.
Cleveland's Yonder Alonso hit his second homer of the game in the eighth, a two-run shot for a 4-3 lead. Alonso also had a solo shot in the fourth, moments before the right field warning track flooded.
O'Hearn and Dozier then rescued Kansas City from a sixth straight loss with their homers off Allen (4-5). O'Hearn, a rookie first baseman, tied it with a blast into the left field bullpen, and Dozier followed with a wall-scraper to right-center field.
Allen has blown four saves this season and let his ERA rise to 4.50. Wily Peralta (1-0) got the victory for Kansas City, which had just been swept over four games by Tampa Bay.
Royals All-Star catcher Salvador Perez promised a wheelchair-bound fan, Colin Couch, that he would hit a home run after meeting him on the field before the game, according to the team's Twitter page and broadcaster Steve Physioc.
After Whit Merrifield opened the game with a walk and Alex Gordon followed with a single, Perez made good on the promise by smashing a 454-foot, opposite-field home run -- the longest home run for the Royals this season -- into Kauffman Stadium's iconic right field fountains.
A pipe burst near those fountains a few innings later, delaying the game for 30 minutes. Water began leaking onto the field with two outs in the top of the fourth. Relievers in the Royals' bullpen yelled to alert stadium and game officials to the problem, triggering the stoppage.
As maintenance personnel worked to stop the flow of water, more than a dozen grounds crew members armed with squeegees wicked water from the warning track as it poured from under the fence. They created a sandbag barrier to keep standing water from reaching the outfield grass.
Rookie right-hander Brad Keller shrugged off the unusual delay, which came after Yan Gomes' double, and struck out Greg Allen to get of the inning with the lead.
Home plate umpire Ramon DeJesus ejected Royals bench coach Dale Sveum during Brantley's at-bat leading off the eighth inning. It was Sveum's 16th career ejection -- 10 as a manager, five as an assistant coach and once as a player.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Royals: RHP Ian Kennedy (left oblique strain) threw a simulated game. Kennedy hasn't pitched since July 10 at Minnesota. ... RF Jorge Soler (left toe fracture) took some swings against Kennedy during the simulated game. ... RHP Jesse Hahn underwent surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow a few weeks ago. It was not a reconstruction, commonly known as Tommy John surgery, but Hahn is expected to be sidelined at least six months. He suffered the UCL strain in March and had worked his way back to Triple-A through the rehab process, which started last month, before the surgery.
Indians: LHP Andrew Miller (right knee inflammation) returned Aug. 3 from the 60-day disabled list, but he's only appeared in nine games during the last three weeks. Indians manager Terry Francona said Friday that the priority is using Miller in situations when a win is on the line. When he's not available, it taxes the bullpen -- which is down to seven pitchers, including two situational arms. Relief will come when the rosters expand Sept. 1. ... RHP Nick Goody has been sidelined with right elbow inflammation since May 3. He will have season-ending arthroscopic surgery on his elbow "sometime next week," but the ulnar collateral ligament is intact, Francona said. ... RHP Cody Anderson pitched off the mound in Arizona for the first time since having Tommy John surgery in March 2017.
UP NEXT
Two-time Cy Young Award winner RHP Corey Kluber (16-6) gets the nod for the Indians in the second game of a three-game series. He is 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA in two previous starts this season against the Royals, who send rookie RHP Heath Filmyer (1-1) for the 6:15 p.m. first pitch.
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