CLEVELAND (AP) -- Moments after getting booed, David Justice had the Jacobs Field crowd screaming at him again.

Justice's two-run single with one out in the 12th inning Saturday rallied the Cleveland Indians to their third straight victory, 7-6 over the Kansas City Royals.

	Justice

"I was thinking, I gotta get a hit here or they're gonna boo me from first base to the dugout," Justice said.

Trailing 5-2 after seven, the Indians scored twice in the eighth and tied it on Richie Sexson's leadoff homer in the ninth off Ricky Bottalico. It was his fourth blown save.

McCarty's double off Steve Reed (1-0) in the top of the 12th had given the Royals a 6-5 lead before the Indians came back again.

The Indians loaded the bases in the 12th against Dan Reichert (1-2) on an infield single by Roberto Alomar and walks to Manny Ramirez and pinch-hitter Enrique Wilson.

Santiago relieved and went to 2-2 on Justice, who reached out and knocked his single just past diving third baseman Joe Randa's glove to score Alomar and Ramirez.

In the hole with two strikes, Justice said he just wanted to put the ball in play.

As he neared second base after his game-winning hit, Justice pumped his fist and pointed toward the crowd, reminding them that just a few moments earlier they wanted to run him out of town.

"It felt good, especially after the abuse I took out there," Justice said. "I waved to them and said, 'Don't clap now.' "

The Indians improved to 4-0 in extra-inning games this season, and won for the 73rd time in their last at-bat at Jacobs Field.

The Royals, who had won five straight entering the series, dropped their third in a row and now face a four-game sweep.

"We played a heck of a game and we should not hang our chins," said Royals manager Tony Muser. "But emotionally, this is a tough one to lose."

The Royals took the lead in the top of the 12th with help when the Indians' infield got its signals crossed.

Johnny Damon walked leading off and went to second on Reed's balk. Reed made a pickoff move toward a vacant first base when first baseman Sexson broke toward the plate anticipating a bunt by Carlos Febles.

"There was some serious miscommunication there," Indians acting manager Grady Little said.

Febles, who went 3-for-4 with two sacrifices, moved Damon to third with a sac bunt and McCarty doubled to left on a ball that Justice never picked up off the bat.

"When the ball was first hit, I thought it was over my head," Justice said. "So did Kenny (Lofton). He yelled, 'Back.' So I went back and it had the nastiest topspin I've ever seen."

Bottalico blew his save when he allowed the Indians to tie it in the ninth on Sexson's leadoff homer, his third. Sexson drilled a 3-2 fastball 428 feet to center.

"It was not my best pitch," Bottalico said. "My best pitch lately has been a slider and it was flat-out stupidity on my part to throw a fastball."

The Indians were limited to six singles by Kansas City starter Jeff Suppan and went into the eighth trailing 5-2. But Suppan's first walk -- a one-out pass to Omar Vizquel -- was followed by Ramirez's RBI double.

For the second straight game, Suppan, now winless since April 8, pitched well enough to win but didn't. He allowed seven hits in 7 2/3 innings with a career-high nine strikeouts and the one walk.

In his last start, Suppan allowed three hits in nine innings but got a no-decision at Detroit.

Randa and Mike Sweeney added two RBI apiece for the Royals.

Cleveland starter Dave Burba was dominant at times, but was hurt by walks and a two-run double during the fifth. He walked four and struck out nine -- twice fanning the side in order.

Game notes
Kansas City's Carlos Beltran, the AL Rookie of the Year in 1999, is in an 0-for-20 slump. ... Ramirez has a 12-game hitting streak and an RBI in nine straight games, matching Al Rosen's 1954 club record. ... Michael Hirschbeck, the 13-year-old son of plate umpire John Hirschbeck, was the Indians' bat boy. The Hirschbecks live in Poland, Ohio. ... C.C. Sabathia, the top pitching prospect in the Indians' organization, was hospitalized for heat exhaustion and dehydration Friday night after pitching just two innings in a start for Class-A Kinston. Sabathia, 19, had attended a funeral in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday and took a red-eye flight back to make his start. He was released from the hospital Saturday morning.