Indians' Corey Kluber leaves start with sprained right ankle

Cleveland Indians ace right-hander Corey Kluber left Friday night's start against the Kansas City Royals with what the team is calling a sprained right ankle.

“It’s a low ankle sprain and on the mild side. It’s not the dreaded high ankle sprain that you hear with NFL guys,” Indians manager Terry Francona told The Associated Press after the game. 

Kluber appeared to suffer the injury while making a pitch during the sixth inning against the Royals' Eric Hosmer. After being tended to by Francona and a trainer, Kluber stayed in the game and allowed a single to the next hitter, Melky Cabrera. Francona came back to the mound after Cabrera's hit and elected to take Kluber out of the game.

Kluber was cruising to that point, allowing just one earned run on a solo homer by Brandon Moss. He allowed six hits and one walk to go with four strikeouts in 5⅓ innings pitched.

The early exit prevented Kluber from extending his streak of starts with at least eight strikeouts to 15. Kluber hadn't had less than eight strikeouts in a start since May 1, when he was clobbered by the Detroit Tigers and wound up on the disabled list. He's been one of the league's best pitchers since his return on June 1.

Despite the injury, Kluber picked up the win to improve his record to 12-3 as the Indians routed the Royals 10-1 to draw first blood in a crucial AL Central showdown.

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