AL Central success boosting first-place Tribe

CLEVELAND — Indians manager Terry Francona believes the last game is the hardest when going for a sweep. Fortunately for Francona, he is able to call on his ace Corey Kluber for this specific reason.

Kluber spun six scoreless innings and Cleveland belted four home runs at Progressive Field in a 7-0 win over Kansas City to complete the four-game sweep to conclude a 10-game homestand. It marked the Indians first four-game sweep over the Royals since August of 2006.

“The last game is the hardest game to win and we played really well,” Francona said. “Now we will turn the page real quick because we are going to play a real good Seattle team. But the more you win, the more fun and the more interesting the next game gets.”

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In addition, Sunday’s shutout gave the Tribe a 1 1/2-game lead atop of the American League Central. It is Cleveland’s largest division lead since holding a 1 1/2-game lead over Detroit on May 22, 2013.

The Indians had to wait a little longer than usual to reach that point, though. For three hours and 10 minutes in the middle of …

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