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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Slowly, the pieces are coming together again for the Cleveland Indians. Now all they're lacking is their leader.
|  | | Bartolo Colon pitched for the first time in four weeks. |
Bartolo Colon and Kenny Lofton both returned from the disabled list Friday night and made immediate impacts, leading the Indians to a 7-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals.
Colon, pitching for the first time since April 15, held Kansas City to three hits in six innings while Lofton went 3-for-4 and bunted home the go-ahead run in the fifth.
"It was great to have them back," said bench coach Grady Little, the Indians acting manager while Charlie Manuel recovers from colon surgery. "I think we're ready to get this thing rolling. All that's missing is Charlie Manuel, and he'll be back soon."
Travis Fryman hit a clutch two-out, two-run double in the sixth and Manny Ramirez and David Justice homered for Cleveland, which wasn't the same team while Colon and Lofton were on the DL.
A pulled rib cage muscle landed Colon (3-1) on the DL for the first time in his career, and while their No. 1 starter was out, the Indians' starting rotation was out of whack.
And without the speedy Lofton, Cleveland's offense was stagnant, forcing the Indians to rely too often on the home run.
But with Colon back on the mound, and Lofton, who also had a steal, back on the basepaths and in center field, the Indians were back to normal.
"I was happy to be back," said Lofton, who scored the Indians' final run on a mad dash home in the seventh. "It's hard sitting for two weeks just watching."
Miguel Batista (1-1) allowed five runs and seven hits in six innings.
Staked to a 2-0 lead on solo shots by Justice and Ramirez, Colon struck out five in the first two innings, including four in a row. He fanned Joe Randa on a 99 mph fastball for the second out of the
second, and took a no-hitter into the fifth.
Carlos Beltran walked leading off the fifth and Colon gave up a single to Randa before Mark Quinn's RBI single brought the Royals within 2-1. Brian Johnson tied it with a single.
"Colon had no-hit stuff," said Royals manager Tony Muser. "His endurance probably caught up to him coming off the DL and that allowed us to tie it."
Colon escaped further trouble by getting Rey Sanchez on a pop foul; striking out Johnny Damon and watching as shortstop Omar Vizquel backhanded Carlos Febles' grounder in the hole and threw to
second for the force.
Colon, who finished with eight strikeouts, had no trouble in the sixth and ended his night after 84 pitches, 54 for strikes.
"When you see a guy like Colon throwing 92, 93 mph and then reaching back and throwing 99 when he needs it, you know he's going to be tough," Royals first baseman Mike Sweeney said.
Colon speaks little English, but he thanked the Indians' medical staff for getting him back so quickly. He also managed to crack a smile and laughed when asked how he felt to be back.
"Good," he said.
In the fifth, Fryman had a leadoff double and went to third on a flyout. Lofton then took advantage of Febles playing too deep at second and perfectly pushed a bunt his way for an RBI groundout.
"I've been working on some things," Lofton said. "I thought that was the perfect time to try that."
The play was both surprising and something the Indians were sorely missing with Lofton out.
"When you see a superstar bunting to get a run in, you know they are thinking together as a team," Batista said. "They are trying to do all the things right to win."
The Indians made it 5-2 in the sixth on Fryman's sinking liner to left that skipped away from a diving Damon as two runs scored.
After Kansas City got a run back in the seventh on Johnson's RBI double off Scott Kamieniecki, Cleveland got two runs in the bottom of the inning.
Einar Diaz doubled and scored on a double by Lofton, who raced home on Roberto Alomar's tapper in front of the plate.
Justice connected for his seventh homer with two outs in the second to put the Indians up 1-0. It was his fourth homer in six games.
Ramirez's 11th homer and third in two games gave Cleveland a 2-0 lead in the fourth. In his last 22 games, Ramirez is batting .339 (31-for-92) with nine homers and 27 RBI.
Game notes
Manuel was released from the hospital Friday and could be back in another week. ... Ramirez has an RBI in a career-high eight straight games and is hitting .422 (19-for-45) with five homers and
15 RBIs during his 11-game hitting streak. ... The Cleveland Fire Department canceled a postgame fireworks display saying a preliminary test firing put the Jacobs Field crowd's safety at risk. ... Kansas City, leading the AL in steals, swiped two more and is 39-for-43 this year. Damon, the league leader, is 14-for-14 in steal attempts.
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