KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The waiting game begins for Corey Kluber.
The Indians' No. 1 starter left Friday's 10-1 win over Kansas City in the sixth inning after spraining his right ankle covering first base. Now the clock is ticking on his next start.
Will he be ready to face the Red Sox at Progressive Field on Wednesday night or will he have to skip a start? Manager Terry Francona called it a low ankle sprain on the mild side.
"It's not the dreaded high ankle sprain that you always hear on the NFL guys," said Francona. "I think the biggest thing is we'll see how he shows up Saturday. If he can make a side day (bullpen session), he'll pitch. If not, maybe we'll have to bump him back, but I don't think it's anything other than that."
Kluber said he twisted the ankle on his first couple of steps off the mound to cover first base on Eric Hosmer's grounder.
When Kluber talked to reporters after the game, he still had more therapy to undergo on the ankle. Asked how quickly he might recover, Kluber said, "It's hard to say right now. The next day or two, hopefully, I'll get a lot of treatment and bounce back well."
Kluber (12-3, 2.6) won his fifth consecutive decision in his last six starts despite leaving the game after 5 1/3 innings.
Catcher Yan Gomes knows how important a healthy Kluber is to the Indians.
"He's the horse of our staff," said Gomes. "He takes control of everything. What's awesome is that you never see the highs and lows from him. He stays even keel.
"That goes a long way with our whole pitching staff, even our whole team."
Said Andrew Miller, who relieved Kluber in the seventh in his first appearance since coming off the disabled list, "It's nice to be back out there. It's nice to join the guys and be part of a win. Obviously a big win for us to start a series in the division, but the big concern is Corey.
"He pitched well, as usual, up until (the injury). I just hope he's all right. He seems like he will be."
Kluber missed a month of the season with a back injury, but he has pitched as well as any another starter in the big leagues since being activated on June 1. But just when his next start is going to be is unknown.
Francona said he should have taken Kluber out of the game as soon as he sprained the ankle. But he let Kluber faced one more batter, Melky Cabrera, who singled. When Kluber ran to backup third base on the play, he was hobbling and that's when Francona called for Miller.
"I wasn't so worried about him moving around," said Francona. "I just thought that if he starts throwing and altering his mechanics, that didn't make sense to me. We went out there the very next guy. We should have gotten him out of there right away."
Before the game, Francona brought in a DJ and a pop-a-shot basketball machine to say thanks to the players who have worked through this four-city, 11-game trip that ends Sunday. Kluber did not participate in the pop-a-shot tournament as he prepared for his start, but enjoyed the show.
"I didn't shoot at all today," said Kluber with a smile. "Maybe that's why I rolled my ankle. I didn't play pop-a-shot to get warmed up."
Kluber complimented Francona for helping the team relax.
"I think that shows how much a sense Tito has on the pulse of the team," said Kluber. "We've played a bunch of games and we're going to be playing a bunch coming up.
"It's a way to keep guys feeling loose and maybe avoid guys coming into the clubhouse and feeling tired. I think it worked out perfect."
The DJ was set up close to Kluber's locker, but he didn't seem to mind.
"It's better than sitting here and having it feel like a morgue," said Kluber.
The Indians are in a stretch where they're playing 23 games in 23 days.