Major League Baseball

Napoli's big night sparks Indians to 14-4 rout of Angels

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 12:10 p.m. ET

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CLEVELAND (AP) Mike Napoli has provided a spark for the Cleveland Indians all season, and did it again in Thursday night's 14-4 rout over the Los Angeles Angels.

Napoli was 4 for 4 with a homer and four RBIs, Lonnie Chisenhall drove in four and the Indians scored five times in the first inning.

Indians designated hitter Carlos Santana left with a contusion on the right side of his head after being struck by a foul ball while standing in the dugout during the fifth inning.

Indians manager Terry Francona said Santana underwent tests and was feeling better when he left the ballpark. The Indians will monitor him to see if he sustained a concussion.

Santana hit his 25th homer to lead off the first before Chisenhall followed with a three-run double.

''You know you have nine innings to go, but it's nice to come back and play even and then we kind of jumped on them,'' Indians manager Terry Francona said. ''If you want to be a good team, you got to have games where you spread it out.''

Napoli's three-run homer, his 29th, highlighted a four-run fifth. He also had an RBI double in the second. Chisenhall added an RBI double in the fourth as the Indians scored in each of the first five innings.

Napoli began his career with the Angels and played for them from 2006-10. He's batting .338 (68 for 201) with 19 home runs and 43 RBIs lifetime against them since they traded him to Toronto before the 2011 season.

''We haven't matched up well against him,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. ''But we're not going to look back (on trading him).''

Corey Kluber (12-8) allowed three runs in six innings. He is 4-0 with a 1.88 ERA in his last six starts.

Mike Trout homered in the first for Los Angeles, which has dropped seven straight - its longest losing streak since 2010.

Kluber knew the early lead was the difference.

''That's huge,'' he said. ''Obviously, I made a mistake on that pitch to Trout. But to come back and answer, first batter, Carlos hit a homer to tie the game. We just poured it on after that.''

Jhoulys Chacin (2-6), who replaced Tim Lincecum in the Angels' rotation, allowed seven runs in 1 1/3 innings.

Santana was standing behind the railing on the top step of the dugout when he was struck by teammate Francisco Lindor's foul ball. Santana went down and was helped to the clubhouse by trainers.

The Indians began an 11-game homestand by moving four games ahead of idle Detroit in the AL Central.

Trout was 1 for 13 with an infield hit and eight strikeouts coming into the game. The homer was his 22nd.

Cliff Pennington also homered off Kluber in the third, his third of the season.

The game was delayed by rain in the fourth and seventh innings for a total of 1 hour, 10 minutes.

DECISION NEAR?

Francona said the team will decide on the next step for outfielder Michael Brantley in the next couple of days. Brantley has played in only 11 games after surgery on his right shoulder in November and has been on the disabled list since May 14. It's possible he will have additional surgery.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Angels: 1B C.J. Cron (broken left hand), who has been on the 15-day disabled list since July 9, is expected to begin a rehab assignment next week.

Indians: RHP Jeff Manship (sore wrist) was activated from the 15-day disabled list. LHP T.J. House was optioned to Triple-A Columbus.

UP NEXT

Angels: LHP Tyler Skaggs had a career-best 18 2/3-inning scoreless streak snapped in his last start Aug. 6 at Seattle.

Indians: RHP Carlos Carrasco is 1-0 with one save and a 1.36 ERA in seven career appearances against the Angels.

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