Kansas City, Mo. ? Russell Branyan hit a two-run homer, and Fausto Carmona and three Cleveland relievers combined to help the Indians shut out the Kansas City Royals, 4-0, Wednesday night.

Asdrubal Cabrera snapped an 0-for-16 skid with two-run single in the fifth inning.

Carmona allowed five hits, walked two and struck out two in five scoreless innings, lowering his earned-run average to 3.43. Carmona (4-1) is only one victory shy of matching his 2009 total when he went 5-12 with a 6.32 ERA.

Relievers Aaron Laffey, Chris Perez and Tony Sipp limited the Royals to four more hits over the final four innings.

The Royals have lost seven straight and nine of their last 10.

Kyle Davies (2-2) gave up two runs on six hits and a walk, while striking out four in five innings.

The Royals, who have scored just nine runs in their past five games, stranded a season-high 13 runners and went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Designated hitter Jose Guillen left seven runners on base, including striking out to end the seventh with the bases loaded.

Alberto Callaspo hit two doubles, the only extra-base hits for the Royals. Scott Podsednik and Mike Aviles each had two singles for the Royals.

Moore supports Hillman: Kansas City manager Trey Hillman realizes his job could be in jeopardy with his team struggling.

“I know it’s the last year of my contract,” Hillman said Wednesday. “I’ve been driven my whole life to be as successful as I could be. I’m still driven the same way. At the end of the day, what Trey Hillman really wants is the Kansas City Royals to be a contending club and to be in position to win baseball games. That’s all I want.”

General manager Dayton Moore continues to support Hillman, who never had played or coached in the majors when Moore hired him.

“Trey is a tremendous leader, somebody who is very consistent with who is he is day in and day out,” Moore said. “He’s exactly what our organization needs at this point in time.”