Elvis Stops Skid at Two

When was the last time you saw a series completely dominated by starting pitchers? Clemens and Oswalt were way too much for the Royals line up to handle during the first two games of this series. Then today, Runelvys Hernandez turned the tables and one hit the Astros for seven innings.

It looked like the Royals might jump on Brandon Backe early in the game this afternoon. He walked Berroa to start the game (which is a difficult thing to do given the fact that our lead off man only has 11 BB this year). And after two innings, Backe had walked four guys already and was down 2-0. But he set the Royals down in order in the third, fourth, and fifth innings and the score was 2-1 Royals.

Emil Brown came through big time in the sixth inning though. Long singled. Stairs drew a walk and Brown hit on 0-1 pitch over the left field wall and gave the Royals a 5-1 lead. That was plenty to win this one.

Runelvys was razor sharp (7 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 3 BB). His breaking ball was especially nasty and he seemed to have the Astros off balance all day long. I wasn't crazy about the three walks he issued, but the strike zone was miniscule and his control was the best I've ever seen it. That's three wins in a row for Elvis and four quality starts in a row.

After giving Mark Teahen a hard time about his play at third during the Dodger series, he definitely deserves praise for the way he played the hot corner today. From barehanded throws to diving stabs to long throws—he did it all.

The Royals finished the home stand at 4-2 and their record since Bell took over is now 12-6. They face an unbelievably good staff in Chicago over the next few days. Lets hope they can get this long road trip off to a good start against the Sox. Lima (1-5, 7.38) goes against Orlando Hernandez (7-2, 4.88).