Jakob Junis, Ryan O'Hearn Lead Royals Past Indians; Trevor Story's 2 HR Power Rockies in 9-8 Win

Players of the Day for Monday, September 3, 2018

Junis: 7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 6 K

American League

The Cleveland express train to the playoffs was temporarily derailed Monday as the Indians dropped a 5-1 decision to visiting Kansas City.

O'Hearn: 2 HR, 3 RBI

Jakob Junis (8-12) shut down Cleveland's batters on two hits and no runs over seven solid innings, fanning six with no walks. While Junis was frustrating Indian hitters, Ryan O'Hearn provided support with two homers, a solo shot in the fourth and a two-run bomb in the sixth.

The win was the 46th - against 91 losses - for the last place Royals. They are 31 games behind Cleveland in the AL Central. Cleveland has lost three straight but still leads Minnesota by 14 games in the division, the largest lead in the majors.

The Indians need a combination of 11 wins or 11 Minnesota losses to clinch the division.

Game two of the series at Cleveland is Tuesday at 7:10 pm EDT.

National League

Story: 2 HR, 5 RBI

Trevor Story smacked a pair of home runs and the Colorado bullpen struggled but held on for a 9-8 win over the Giants in the opener of a three game series in Denver.

Story sent out a two-run homer in the first inning after second baseman, DJ LeMahieu, had put the Rockies ahead, 2-0, with a two-run shot of his own.

In the fifth, Story added a three-run blast that had the Rockies up, 7-2. San Francisco came back with a run in the sixth, two in the seventh and three in the eighth, eventually taking an 8-7 lead. Noel Cuevas put the Rockies back in front in the bottom of the eighth with a pinch-hit, two-run single. Wade Davis struck out all three batters he faced in the ninth, earning his league-leading 38th save.

In his third full season, Story is having a career year with 28 home runs, 92 RBI and 24 steals. He's batting .295 in 136 games.

Game two of the series is Tuesday, 8:40 pm EDT.