Jay Bruce hits walk-off single as Indians top Royals, win 22nd consecutive game

The Indians were one strike away from losing its first game since Aug. 23, but Francisco Lindor had other plans.

Lindor hit an RBI double off Royals closer Kelvin Herrera to tie the game at two in the bottom of the ninth at Progressive Field. Jay Bruce secured the club's 22nd straight win with a walk-off hit an inning later, scoring Jose Ramirez.

During the win streak, which began with a victory over the Red Sox on Aug. 24, the Indians have outscored their opponents 139-35 and trailed in only four of 189 innings. Thursday night, the Royals jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a Mike Moustakas RBI only to have Cleveland tie it on a Lonnie Chisenhall in the bottom of the third.

The scoreless stalemate latest until the sixth when Eric Hosmer doubled off starter Josh Tomlin, scoring Melky Cabrera.

The Indians had the bases loaded in the eighth with one out, but pop-outs by Jay Bruce and Carlos Santana squandered a perfect opportunity for a comeback. Luckily, Lindor stepped up in the bottom of the ninth.

Wednesday's victory over the Tigers broke a tie with the 2002 Oakland Athletics for the longest streak by an AL team and left the Indians in a tie with a pair of NL teams, the 1935 Chicago Cubs and 1880 Chicago White Stockings (a franchise that later became the Cubs) at 21 in a row.

The 1916 New York Giants are generally cited as the all-time record-holders with 26 consecutive wins, but they did have a tie mixed into a 27-game unbeaten stretch. That 1-1 draw with the Pirates came in the second game of a Sept. 18 doubleheader after the Giants had won 12 in a row, and they followed it up with 14 consecutive wins.