Indians Top Royals

Franmil Reyes had his biggest hit with the Cleveland Indians.

Yet Reyes and his teammates weren’t in the mood to celebrate Saturday’s victory over Kansas City because it might have come with a significant loss.

Reyes hit a three-run homer that helped Cleveland to a 4-2 victory over the Royals in a game in which Indians third baseman Jose Ramirez left early with a right wrist injury.

Ramirez, a two-time All-Star, exited in the first inning after fouling off a pitch and underwent an MRI to determine the severity of his condition. The Indians initially termed it ”discomfort” and will update his status Sunday.

Cleveland manager Terry Francona said Ramirez has been dealing with a sore wrist, but the injury occurred in a different area of the joint. The 26-year-old was not wearing a protective brace in the clubhouse and did not speak with the media.

Ramirez is batting .254 with 20 homers and 75 RBIs in 126 games. Utilityman Mike Freeman replaced him and had two hits and an RBI, while infielder Yu Chang was pulled from the lineup at Triple-A Columbus in preparation for a call-up.

With the win, the Indians moved ahead of Tampa Bay into one of the two AL wild-card spots.

Mike Clevinger (9-2) struck out eight and allowed one run over 5 2/3 innings, improving to 4-0 at home this year. The right-hander is 9-0 with a 1.93 ERA in 14 career outings against the Royals.

Brad Hand worked a scoreless ninth for his 31st save. It was his second save in as many nights after three straight blown saves.