The Royals beat the Tigers this afternoon 7-2 behind a strong pitching effort from Runelvys Hernandez, who took the mound for the first time since August 13, 2003. He had Tommy John surgery on September 5, 2003 and as we all well know, missed the entire 2004 season. So, to see him throw 100 pitches in seven innings and only give up one earned run was quite a treat.
"I feel so excited. I feel great," Hernandez said after the game. "I say thank you to my team for their support. And I'm back."
Not only did the Royals get a strong performance from Hernandez, but they also showed great patience at the plate. Mike Maroth threw over 30 pitches in the first inning. David DeJesus started the game by forcing a full count and when he got a pitch he could handle, he dumped the ball into right field. Graffanino rolled one in between first and second and on into right field after DeJesus got a pitch to run on. After Maroth threw one in the dirt and allowed DeJesus to score, Sweeney forced a full count and then dinked a pitch into center field. Great way to start the game.
Notes:
- Mark Teahen got his first major league hit...an RBI triple down the right field line, but he still looks slow at the hot corner
- David DeJesus continued his hot streak with two more hits
- Tony Graffanino went 4-4 and made a strong case for playing every day
- John Buck went 2-3 and blocked a couple of pitches in the dirt
- Angel Berroa hit his first home run of the season
- Emil Brown looked comfortable in the five hole, going 2-5
Tomorrow afternoon Zack Greinke goes against Jason Johnson in Detroit. Let's hope that Zack gets a little more help than the Royals gave him last year. In his 11 losses, they scored just 15 runs. His stats last year: 8-11, 3.97 ERA in 24 starts.
In case you were wondering...both Jason Grimsley and Curtis Leskanic retired after last season. A big thanks goes out to both of you guys for laying it on the line every night for us the past couple of seasons.
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