Royals Fall To Rays

A dominant pitching performance by Luke Hochevar wasn't enough, as the Royals' offense couldn't get anything going all night against Rays starter Jeremy Hellickson. Kansas City ended up on the wrong end of a pitchers' dual, losing 2-1.

Hochevar, who had won his previous three starts, certainly pitched well enough to earn another victory last night. He pitched seven strong innings, only giving up one run and five hits while striking out seven. After falling to 4-8 earlier in the year, Hochevar has been downright dominant for the Royals lately. It appears the light may have finally come on for the former top overall pick.

Early in the game, it appeared that Kansas City's offense was poised to put up some big numbers against Hellickson. Alex Gordon lead off the game with a double, and scored on Eric Hosmer's bloop single. The Royals would have plenty of chances to add to their lead later in the game, but failed to drive in several runners in scoring position.

Kansas City faces Tampa Bay again tonight at 6:10 p.m. Jeff Francis (4-11) will get the start for Kansas City, while James Shields (10-9) gets the start for the Rays.

Royals Drop Game One of Series vs. Diamondbacks

Kansas City gave up a homerun to Wily Mo Pena - the same Wily Mo Pena who hadn't hit a major league homer in over three years - en route to an embarrassing 7-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Royals pitcher Luke Hochevar gave up five earned runs in seven innings, earning the loss for Kansas City.

The big story from the game was Pena, who has bounced around the minor leagues for the past couple of seasons. Predictably, he broke the game open with a home run with two outs in the fifth inning. Before Pena's blast, Hochevar had only given up one hit, and appeared to be cruising towards a rare victory. The Royals former first-overall draft pick has made a bad habit of pitching well for several innings, then imploding later in the game. It is his flashes of dominance that make him so frustrating, just when it looks like he is in control, he gives up five runs in an inning and the game is over.

The lone bright spot offensively for Kansas City was Alex Gordon, who fell a single shy of hitting for the cycle. Gordon's homerun and triple accounted for the Royals' only runs, and the young outfielder has raised his average to .287 for the season. Kansas City fans had waited patiently for Gordon to break out, and the former Nebraska star seems to finally be putting it all together.

Kansas City hosts the Diamondbacks again tonight at 7:10 p.m. Jeff Francis (3-7) will get the start for the Royals.