Hochevar Tosses a Three-Hitter

Game Date: June 12, 2009
Cincinnati @ Kansas City
Royals 4, Reds 1 / Box Score
WP: Hochevar (2-2), LP: Maloney (0-1)
KC Home Runs: Butler (5), Callaspo (4)
Royals Record: 26-34 / Record in June 3-7

The Royals desperately needed someone unexpected to step up and do something special. Luke Hochevar was up to the task tonight—throwing nine innings of three hit ball, giving up just one run on 80 pitches. 80 pitches. That’s incredible. Check out this stat from Bob Dutton:

That’s the fewest pitches thrown by any Royals starter in a complete game in at least 21 years. Club officials were still checking their archives to find a more efficient performance.

I’d be surprised if they find one.

Dutton’s article also pointed out that this was the first time the Reds have lost in Kansas City since 1889 when the Red Stockings were defeated 9-7 by the Kansas City Cowboys in American Association play.

I did a little checking and it turns out that the Cowboys were a terrible baseball team. There was actually three versions of the Cowboys in Kansas City in the late 1800s to use the name. In 1884, the Cowboys played in the Union Association and were 16-63, finishing 11th out of the 12 teams. That version of the team only lasted one season. Another version of the Cowboys played in the National League in 1886 and they were flat awful, going 30-91. That team didn’t last either. Finally the third version played in the American Association from 1888-1889, going 98-171. As bad as they were, according to Wikipedia, which admittedly isn’t much of a source, they did have a couple of highlights:

. . . these Cowboys did feature a Hall of Famer, outfielder Billy Hamilton, who made his big-league debut with the 1888 Cowboys and went on to post a .344 batting average over fourteen seasons. Henry Porter threw a no-hitter for the Cowboys on June 6, 1888.

Enough about the Cowboys.

How about Alberto Callaspo hitting a two-run bomb tonight from the right side of the plate? I didn’t expect that. It was the first time he’s ever done it in his career.

Tomorrow night, Kyle Davies (2-6, 5.13) goes up against Bronson Arroyo (7-4, 5.00). Davies is 1-1 in his career against the Reds with a 9.00 ERA in 10.0 IP. Arroyo is 0-1 against the Royals with a 2.79 ERA in 9.2 IP.