CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland Indians rookie pitcher Ryan Merritt kept his cool on a crisp August night, and shortstop Francisco Lindor's bat remained hot as the duo led the Tribe to a 4-0 win against the visiting Kansas City Royals.

Merritt pitched a career-high 6.2 innings and scattered seven hits while walking one and striking out three.

The lefty, who endeared himself to Indians fans with 4.1 scoreless innings in Game 5 of last year's American League Championship series, worked out of a jam in the second inning with runners at second and third by getting Royals third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert to pop out to second baseman Jose Ramirez.

Giovanny Urshela put the Indians ahead in the third inning with an RBI double off the glove of Alex Gordon in left field. Gordon raced back and leapt against the wall, but could not make the catch as the ball rolled far enough away to allow Yan Gomes to come all the way around and score from first.

It was Urshela's third hit in two games and fifth RBI. He later added a single on a screaming line drive that narrowly missed hitting Royals pitcher Jason Vargas in the fifth inning.

After a Lindor ground out, Austin Jackson followed with an RBI single to right, giving the Indians a 2-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Merritt's command was impeccable. He did not allow a three-ball count until Cuthbert's two-out walk in the seventh inning, and a 3-1 single to Alex Gordon before he was lifted with runners on the corners in favor of Joe Smith.

Smith came on to get Whit Merrifield on a line out to right field, ending the threat.

Lindor increased Cleveland's advantage in the fifth inning when he blasted a two-run home run off Vargas to the bleachers in left field. It was Lindor's 23rd home run of the season, the most by an Indians shortstop since Asdrubal Cabrera hit 25 in 2011, and the third highest total by a shortstop in franchise history.

The victory marked Cleveland's 13th shutout of the season, tying the Indians with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the most in the majors. Kansas City was shut out for the 11th time on the year.

What it means

The Indians pulled ahead of Kansas City in the season series 7-6, and beat the Royals for the first time at home in 2017 with six games remaining. The Indians increased the gap between themselves and the third-place Royals to 7 games.

The pitches

Merritt threw 97 pitches, 66 (68 percent) for strikes. Vargas also threw 97 pitches, but just 58 (59 percent) for strikes.

Bad glove, good glove

Lindor got Cleveland's defense off to an inauspicious start early when he allowed Royals leadoff hitter Whit Merrifield to reach base on a throwing error in the first inning. After Merrifield stole second, Lindor turned things around, cutting down the KC second baseman as he tried to advance to third base on a fielder's choice by Lorenzo Cain.

Lindor then turned in a diving stop on Melky Cabrera's grounder up the middle and used his glove to flip the ball to Jose Ramirez, who made the turn at second base to complete an inning-ending double play.

Thanks for coming

The Royals and Indians drew 34,061 to Progressive Field on a crisp Friday night. First pitch was at 7:10 p.m. with a temperature of 69 degrees.

It marks the eighth sellout of the season. Saturday's matchup has already been announced as the ninth sellout, the most since the club sold out 11 games in 2007.

Next

The series continues as RHP Mike Clevinger (6-5, 3.97 ERA) faces RHP Jason Hammel (6-9, 4.73) at 7:15 p.m. Fox Sports 1, WTAM/1100 and WMMS will carry the game.

Clevinger will make his fourth career start against the Royals. He is 2-0 vs. Kansas City with a 3.31 ERA. Clevinger has already made two starts against Kansas City this season, earning the win at Kauffman Stadium on May 7 and taking a no decision on May 26 at Progressive Field.