Although David DeJesus had been hitting better than many of his teammates during Kansas City's losing streak, he also felt responsible for having extended it when the Royals began the weekend's series with the Cleveland Indians.
After DeJesus made amends for his error in the Royals' last game, they close this three-game series against their division rival on Sunday.DeJesus hit a solo home run and added an RBI double in Saturday's 4-2 win over the Indians (25-30), ending the Royals' losing streak at 12 games. The center fielder was hitting .294 (15-for-51) during the losing stretch, including .389 (7-for-18) in the four games prior to it ending.
DeJesus also drove in two runs on Friday for the Royals (22-34), but made a baserunning error in the 5-4 loss to the Indians. He took responsibility for that defeat, but was happy to make up for it.
"We did everything good today," DeJesus said. "I felt like I messed up the game yesterday. It definitely helps that I was able to come up with some key hits, for sure."
The win was Kansas City's first since beating Florida on May 18. The Royals were no-hit by Jon Lester the next day to begin the losing streak, during which they averaged 2.7 runs. The losing streak was the longest in the majors since Kansas City and Pittsburgh endured 13-game slides in 2006.
The Indians also contributed with a lack of offense, going 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position as they failed to win back-to-back games for the first time since a three-game sweep of Oakland from May 13-15. It was Cleveland's 11th loss in the last 14 games.
Cleveland tries to bounce back Sunday behind Paul Byrd (2-4, 4.10 ERA), who is looking for his first win in three starts. After allowing five runs in 5 1-3 innings against the White Sox on May 21, Byrd gave up three runs and a season-high 10 hits on Monday in the Indians' 6-3, 12-inning loss to Chicago.
"I pitched OK, not great," Byrd said. "There's no use denying it by just talking positive."
The right-hander is looking for his first road win of the season. He is 0-4 with a 6.92 ERA in five starts outside of Cleveland this season. Byrd has also struggled against the Royals, whom he pitched for 2001-02, going 1-4 with a 5.20 ERA in nine career starts.
Brian Bannister (4-6, 4.97) counters for Kansas City, looking for his first win in four starts. He is 0-2 with an 8.64 ERA in his last three outings. Bannister allowed three runs and seven hits in five innings of a 12-inning 4-3 loss to the Twins on Tuesday.
Bannister is 1-1 with a 1.37 ERA in three starts against the Indians and lost to them on April 24 despite allowing only two runs in 6 2-3 innings of a 2-0 defeat.
