Elvis' Solid Effort Leads to W

Game Date: August 15, 2006
Game Score: Royals 4, White Sox 2 / Box Score
WP: Hernandez (3-7), LP: Vazquez (11-7)
Royal Home Runs: Teahen (14), Brown (11)
Royals Record: 42-78

Can anybody figure out Runelvys Hernandez? He’s either dominant or awful. His 7.49 ERA attests to the fact that he’s been more awful than dominant, but after matching up well against Curt Schilling last Thursday, and after beating Vazquez last night, dare we hold out hope? I’m not really there yet. I’d at least like to see his ERA somewhere around 5.00 before that happens. But I’ll take what he gave us last night.

In one of the odder plays you’ll ever see, the Royals took a 4-2 lead in the sixth inning when Mark Teahen hit a two-run home run to center field on what was supposed to be a hit and run with Mark Grudzielanek at first base.

“If you don’t hit the ball on the ground on a hit-and-run,” said Buddy Bell, “you need to hit it out of the ballpark. That’s what he did. So it’s OK…I’ve just never seen that before.”

This has been a season of many firsts for the Royals. We’ll just add this one to the list.

You’ve probably noticed that Bell has changed the batting order a little since Sweeney’s return. Mike has been hitting third since his return, but last night, he found himself in the clean up spot and Teahen hit third. Emil Brown has been hitting ahead of Reggie Sanders—which is probably a good move. Brown has finally found his power stroke and Reggie has been pressing at the plate. He did have hits last night.

Ambiorix Burgos played set up man last night at picked up a hold. And finally, Bell gave Joe Nelson a chance to close a game, and he had little problem doing so. He picked up his first career save. May it be the first of many.

Adam Bernero (0-0, 1.59) goes against Jose Contreras (11-4, 3.53) tonight in Chicago. Bernero is 1-3 in his career against the White Sox with a 5.91 ERA. Contreras is 7-0 against the Royals with a 2.16 ERA.