Cain homers in KC return; Crew's streak at 7

KANSAS CITY -- Travis Shaw staggered the Royals early and Lorenzo Cain finished them off late as the sizzling Brewers used the long ball for a 5-2 victory on Tuesday night that extended their winning streak to seven games.
On the night of Cain's return to Kauffman Stadium, where he played a major role in helping the Royals win two pennants and a World Series title in 2015, the winning script was all that Cain could have wanted.
The Brewers, who have their longest streak since winning eight in a row from June 28-July 5 in 2015, opened a nine-game road trip with a loud bang. An RBI single by Ryan Braun in the third came on a liner that took a wicked carom off Royals starter Ian Kennedy's right foot. After a few practice tosses, Kennedy stayed in and Shaw promptly made him pay with a three-run homer that traveled a projected 437 feet, according to Statcast™.

"This is a tough place to score," Shaw said. "When you can get up early, it's huge."
The Royals cut their deficit to 4-2 and seemed to have some momentum when Cain stepped in against rookie Burch Smith leading off the seventh. Cain showed his flair for the dramatic moments later when he launched a solo homer to right-center. He was serenaded with cheers from Royals fans as he circled the bases.

"Nice to hit a homer against my former team," Cain said. "There's no better feeling than when people are cheering for you like that."
Brewers manager Craig Counsell was happy to see the homecoming story play out well for Cain on a night when his club kept up its winning ways.

"He should get treatment like that," Counsell said of the cheers for Cain. "He had a great game today. If they want to love on him, we'll try to do it again [Wednesday]."
Brewers starter Zach Davies got away with some hard-hit outs, but he navigated through six innings having allowed only two runs.

"I couldn't locate much after the second or third inning," Davies said. "It was a grind day."
MOMENT THAT MATTERED
Trailing, 4-2, the Royals put their leadoff man on in the sixth. Then, Salvador Perez, who had homered earlier, sent a scorcher to third that Shaw handled with quick reflexes. Shaw started an around-the-horn double play and that was enough to get Davies through six. If the ball gets by Shaw, who knows?

"That double play was huge," Davies said.
SOUND SMART
The Brewers snapped an eight-game losing streak against the Royals dating to their previous win on June 23, 2007.
HE SAID IT
"We're getting contributions from a lot of guys. The home run ball and the [offensive] pressure have picked up." -- Counsell, on the Brewers' win streak
UP NEXT
Right-hander Jhoulys Chacín (1-1, 4.18 ERA) will look to build on his impressive outing on Friday when he starts the series finale against the Royals on Wednesday at 7:15 p.m. CT. Chacin worked six scoreless innings against the Marlins, allowing four hits while striking out five and walking three. Chacin will face a stout mound opponent in Kansas City right-hander Jason Hammel, who is winless despite a 3.20 ERA.