Royals Make in Two in a Row

Game Date: July 21, 2006
Game Score: Royals 8, Angels 3 / Box Score
WP: Hernandez (2-4), LP: Colon (1-5)
Royal Home Runs: DeJesus (5), Grudzielanek (4)
Royals Record: 34-62

Can anybody figure Runelvys Hernandez out? Is he the below .500 pitcher who pitched in Omaha this year, or is he the guy who throws 109 pitches over 7.1 innings against the Angels to give the Royals their second straight win against them? Is he the guy who came into camp out of shape and unable to throw 50 pitches or is he the guy who shut down the Twins in late April during his first start of the season? Or do his overall numbers tell us the truth? He’s below .500 at both the major league and Triple-A level this season.

I don’t think anybody knows. But when he has stuff like he did last night, he’s fun to watch. His change up had the appearance of a sinker. He threw it belt high and it dipped down and in against lefties, which made it difficult, if not impossible, to hit. He was also able to throw fastballs up in the zone and get them by some pretty good hitters. Let’s just hope that this isn’t the last good performance we see out of Hernandez for a while.

David DeJesus got things going for the Royals in the third inning after Graffanino walked and Gathright reached on a fielder’s choice (Adam Kennedy dropped the throw at second, so both runners were safe). DeJesus launched a ball over the right field wall and gave the Royals a 3-0 lead. The Royals blew the game open in the seventh inning. With the score 4-1, Gathright tripled (Vlad looks soooooooooo slow in right field, doesn’t he?), DeJesus walked, and Grudzielanek hit a three-run home run to left field to make it 7-1.

The Royals walked four times last night and are showing remarkable patience at the plate as of late. RSTN flashed a graphic during the game that said the Royals have drawn more walks than any other major league team during the last 28 games. For the season, they’ve drawn 299 walks, which puts them in a tie for 21 in MLB with the Twins. They are only 27 walks away from cracking the top 10. Bob Davis gave hitting coach Mike Barnett most of the credit and that might be justified, but I still wonder if Dayton Moore didn’t have a few choice words with the Royals when he took over about their utter lack of concern about working the count. Whatever the case, I’m glad it happened.

Tonight, Luke Hudson (2-3, 5.40) goes against Kelvim Escobar (6-9, 3.88). Hudson has never pitched against the Angels. Escobar owns the Royals. He’s 8-2 with a 2.74 ERA in his career against us.