Blake's slam, 6 RBIs lead Indians' 15-1 romp over Royals

Cleveland Indians' Casey Blake watches the ball go over the left field wall for a grand slam during a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals in the fourth inning Tuesday, April 22, 2008, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

KANSAS CITY, Mo.—Casey Blake had a grand slam and six RBIs and C.C. Sabathia struck out 11 in his first victory, leading the Cleveland Indians to a 15-1 rout of the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night.

Blake, the No. 9 hitter, was 4-for-4 with a single and a grand slam and two RBI doubles in the Indians' 17-hit attack. David Dellucci and Jhonny Peralta also homered and Franklin Gutierrez had a three-run double for Cleveland, which came in with the 10th-worst run total and lowest slugging percentage in the league.

Sabathia (1-3) went six innings and gave up only four hits and two walks. Mark Teahen and Jose Guillen each struck out three times against the reigning Cy Young Award winner.

Gil Meche (1-3) lasted just 3 1-3 innings as his ERA ballooned to 8.00 and the Royals lost their fifth straight. The right-hander gave up eight runs on nine hits, had one walk and two strikeouts in his shortest outing of the year.

Sabathia struck out the side in each of the first two innings while also giving up three singles. He gave up another single to David DeJesus leading off the third, got a double-play grounder from Mark Grudzielanek and then fanned Teahen for the second time.

Sabathia was in trouble in the first, with runners at the corners and two out, but got Guillen to chase a 2-2 pitch. Guillen, the right-fielder who was signed to a three-year, $36 million contract to put some pop in a weak lineup, was 0-for-4 with four strikeouts. He's batting .165 with one home run and nine RBIs.

The Royals had 13 strikeouts altogether.

Blake picked up his fifth RBI with a double off Joel Peralta in the fifth. Needing a triple for the cycle in his last at-bat, he lashed a hard liner off Yasuhiko Yabuta that bounced off the fence in left. But he had to stop at second with his second run-scoring double. He and several other position players were replaced starting the seventh.

The Indians loaded the bases in the fifth on singles by Jhonny Peralta and Asdrubal Cabrera and what appeared to be an attempted sacrifice by Gutierrez that went for an infield single. Blake then hammered Meche's 2-0 pitch over the left-field fence for his fourth career grand slam. One out later, Dellucci homered, chasing Meche.

Gutierrez doubled and scored in the seventh and had a three-run double off Jimmy Gobble in the eighth.

Teahen's RBI single off Jensen Lewis in the eighth ruined the shutout.