Not so fast, Cleveland: KC stages rally

The Royals pulled within seven games of the American League Central-leading Indians.

Pinch-hitting for Kendrys Morales, who fouled a ball off his leg earlier in the game, Christian Colon delivered a two-run double off Shaw to tie it. Later, Paulo Orlando delivered a go-ahead RBI single, and Jarrod Dyson topped off the scoring with his first career grand slam.

Orlando's go-ahead RBI single

CLE@KC: Orlando gives Royals lead with RBI single

Paulo Orlando gives the Royals a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the 8th inning with an RBI single that scores Alex Gordon

Kluber gave up five hits, walked three and struck out eight.

Right-hander Edinson Volquez was almost as good for the Royals. He went seven innings and gave up four hits and two runs. He walked three and struck out six, giving the club its fourth straight decent outing since the break.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Francisco Lindor's laser: The two-out solo jack by Lindor in the first inning sailed down the right-field line, stayed inside the pole and landed deep into the seats. The homer had an exit velocity of 108 mph and traveled 435 feet, per Statcast™, that marked both the hardest-hit and farthest homer by Lindor in his MLB career.

Lindor's solo homer

CLE@KC: Lindor opens scoring with a solo homer

Francisco Lindor belts a solo home run around the right-field pole, giving the Indians a 1-0 lead in the top of the 1st inning

Tricky play: Colon came into the game for Morales, who was hit in left foot by a pitch and also fouled a ball off the same leg. With Alcides Escobar on second and Eric Hosmer on first, Colon squared to bunt on the first two pitches. Colon squared again on the third pitch from Shaw, then pulled the bat back and lined a double to deep center field. Colon was thrown out trying for a triple.

Colon's two-run double

CLE@KC: Colon ties game with a two-run double

Christian Colon hits a pinch-hit, two-run double, plating Alcides Escobar and Eric Hosmer to tie the game at 2, but gets thrown out at third

Tough luck: Volquez ran into some tough luck in the fourth inning when he walked Jose Ramirez with one out. After a long battle with Lonnie Chisenhall, Volquez jammed him with a fastball, but Chisenhall blooped a single to left-center, as Ramirez then raced for third. Volquez had another long battle with Juan Uribe, who also got jammed, but that worked to Uribe's advantage -- he hit a ball too softly to third for a double play or a throw to home. Uribe wound up with an RBI groundout.

Kluber's escape: Dyson tried to ignite a rally in the third inning with a one-out triple off Kluber, who then faced his first big test with catcher Roberto Perez (fresh off the disabled list). After walking Hosmer and hitting Morales with a pitch to load the bases with two out, Kluber induced a chopper to third off the bat of Salvador Perez. Third baseman Uribe charged in, glove the roller and had just enough time to nab Perez at first.

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
This was the first time that Kluber worked with a catcher other than Yan Gomes (15-day disabled list) since May 23, 2015. Kluber and Gomes had partnered for 40 consecutive starts before Perez crouched behind the plate on Monday night.

UPON FURTHER REVIEW
With one out and none on in the fourth, Cheslor Cuthbert hit a deep line drive to right field, but was thrown out on a relay throw trying to leg out a triple. The Royals, who trailed 2-0 at that point, challenged the ruling, but the call would stand. Three pitches later, Orlando struck out to end the inning.

WHAT'S NEXT
Indians: Following his stellar first half, right-hander Danny Salazar was held out of his first All-Star Game due to mild right elbow discomfort. Cleveland did not believe the issue was serious, and that is evident as Salazar (10-3, 2.75 ERA) preps for his first start after the break on Tuesday at 8:15 p.m. ET in the middle game at Kauffman Stadium.

Royals: Left-hander Brian Flynn (1-0, 2.39) will make his first start for the Royals and first since August 2014 when he was with Miami on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m. CT. Flynn has made 13 relief appearances this season and has a 1.42 ERA in his last eight appearances.

Watch every out-of-market regular-season game live on MLB.TV.

Jeffrey Flanagan has covered the Royals since 1991, and for MLB.com since 2015. Follow him on Twitter @FlannyMLB.

Jordan Bastian has covered the Indians for MLB.com since 2011, and previously covered the Blue Jays from 2006-10. Read his blog, Major League Bastian, follow him on Twitter @MLBastian and listen to his podcast. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Not so fast, Cleveland: KC stages rally