Luke Hochevar shines, Royals keep rolling in 7-4 victory over Cleveland

Luke Hochevar watched the last out of the fifth inning settle into an outfielder’s glove. Inside the bullpen, he turned and tossed a baseball to Royals bullpen coach Doug Henry. The door opened, and a big-league mound beckoned for the first time in 585 days. Hochevar traversed the distance from the warning track in 75 steps.

On the bench, fellow Tommy John surgery survivor Danny Duffy let a smile cross his face. As Hochevar jogged through left field, his close friend Alex Gordon felt his adrenaline spike. Looking out from the dugout, manager Ned Yost tensed with anxiety.

So much had changed since Hochevar last pitched for Kansas City. A surgeon repaired his right elbow’s torn ulnar collateral ligament. His team won a pennant.

Hochevar spectated while his teammates spilled champagne in October and spilled tears in the World Series. He ached to contribute, desperate for the opportunity he received while striking out two batters in the sixth inning of a 7-4 victory over Cleveland on Thursday.

“It feels great to be back, to really be a contributor and not just be a bona fide fan in the dugout,” Hochevar said. “It feels great to be able to go out there and compete and help the team win.”

Once a symbol of this organization’s stagnation as a No. 1 overall pick who failed as a starter, Hochevar now represents the ascendancy and depth of the Royals. He re-signed with the organization this winter for this exact role. He returned on Thursday to display a wealth of bullpen riches capable of disguising a dearth of reliable starting pitching.

Thursday sounded another alarm for the rotation. A blister on the right thumb of Edinson Volquez popped in the second inning. His command evaporated. He had walked eight batters in his first five starts. He issued six walks Thursday. Volquez allowed three runs to Cleveland in three innings.

The bullpen shouldered the responsibility and allowed only two hits in the final six frames. Kansas City (18-10) captured another series and maintained its edge over Detroit heading into a three-game clash at Comerica Park this weekend.

Eric Hosmer keyed the offense with a three-run home run off defending American League Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber in the first. Omar Infante provided a two-run double as insurance in the seventh.

In the past two games, the Kansas City relief corps handled 14 innings of work. The effort exhausted the group before the weekend. Yost indicated the club could make a roster move, perhaps optioning out backup infielder Orlando Calixte, to add another pitcher for Friday’s game.

“They’re still alive,” Yost said about his bullpen. “Which is good. We’ll worry about it tomorrow.”

When Hochevar entered Thursday, the Royals bullpen had already handled two innings. A one-inning effort from Danny Duffy on Wednesday led Hochevar’s arrival. As rookie Brandon Finnegan logged 22/3 innings of relief, general manager Dayton Moore picked up his phone. He dialed Hochevar, who was in the final stages of a 30-day rehabilitation assignment with Class AAA Omaha.

Moore asked Hochevar whether he felt ready to return. Hochevar stressed he was. Moore wondered whether Hochevar could rejoin the team by Thursday. Hochevar packed up his hotel room, raced down Interstate 29 and arrived in Kansas City by midnight.

Hochevar made the rounds as his teammates arrived in the morning. He chatted with Jason Vargas. He hugged Greg Holland and Wade Davis. He greeted pitching coach Dave Eiland, who had spoken with Hochevar over the phone almost every other day over the past month.

Kansas City optioned Finnegan to the minors to make room.

Hochevar experienced rocky results, with a 7.84 ERA in nine outings for the Storm Chasers. He suffered a spate of dead arm midway through the stint. Rival scouts clocked his fastball velocity around 93 mph. Before the game, Hochevar conceded he was still building arm strength.

“It’s coming,” Hochevar said. “The good thing is that I feel strong. I feel like I’m powering the ball down in the zone. And it feels live coming out. I think pitching in the big leagues, there’s a lot of stuff that’s different. You’re pitching in front of bigger crowds in bigger stadiums in bigger spots. You get that adrenaline.”

The radar gun at Kauffman Stadium clocked his fastball at 95 mph as he fanned outfielder Michael Bourn. He fooled catcher Roberto Perez with a 78-mph curveball for another punchout. When Hosmer gathered a groundball for the third out, the fans near the Royals dugout rose to applaud Hochevar.

For years Hochevar heard the opposite reaction in this park. Kauffman Stadium once showered him with jeers during a Royals home opener. He appreciated the ovation Thursday.

“It’s awesome any time they cheer,” he said.

A series of midafternoon showers arrived on one of the worst possible days: School Day at The K. By 9 a.m., dozens of yellow buses lined the parking lot next to Kauffman Stadium. Thousands of children witnessed demonstrations of science and meteorology. Perhaps the lesson prepared the kids for what followed. The rain stalled the game for two hours and 17 minutes.

When the game began, the Royals throttled Kluber for the second time this season. Hosmer electrified the sellout crowd of 38,271 by rocketing Kluber’s first-inning sinker off a guardrail past the center-field fence.

From there, Volquez crumbled. He blamed his hand. He has dealt with this blister for years, he said. It overwhelms him once or twice a season. When it happens he cannot grip the baseball.

The blister popped in the second inning. In the third he walked five batters, including a pair with the bases loaded. With each pitch, he said, “it burned.”

“In the last inning, I could not hold the ball,” Volquez said. “It was tough for me to throw the ball.”

Neither Volquez nor Yost expected the condition to affect Volquez’s next start. Yost asked the training staff about it after the game. They insisted Volquez would be fine.

Still, the shortened outing places pressure on Yordano Ventura for Friday night. Ventura returns from a seven-game suspension. He will pitch for a 24-man roster, as Kelvin Herrera began a six-game ban before the series finale with Cleveland.

Hochevar starred as a reliever in 2013. Now he serves as a cog in a relentless machine. Ryan Madson yielded a solo homer in the seventh, but his ERA is still 1.80. Davis dominated in the eighth. Holland returned from the disabled list for his fifth save of the season. Neither Davis nor Holland has allowed a run this season.

Yost felt his nervousness fade as Hochevar overran the Indians. He congratulated the newest addition to his bullpen afterward.

“Hoch,” Yost said, “there’s a lot of hours of hard work for that one inning right there.”

“You,” Hochevar replied, “are sure right.”

Thursday’s game

Royals 7, Indians 4

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b-flied out for R.Perez in the 9th.

E: Moss (3), Kipnis (2). LOB: Cleveland 6, Kansas City 11. 2B: Infante (7). 3B: Chisenhall (1). HR: C.Santana (4), off Madson; Hosmer (5), off Kluber. RBIs: C.Santana (15), Dav.Murphy 2 (4), Bourn (6), Hosmer 3 (23), S.Perez (16), Infante 2 (11). SB: Brantley (4), J.Dyson (5). S: C.Colon.

Runners left in scoring position: Cleveland 3 (J.Ramirez, R.Perez 2); Kansas City 5 (L.Cain 2, Infante, Moustakas 2). RISP: Cleveland 0 for 4; Kansas City 4 for 11. Runners moved up: Moss, Dav.Murphy.

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Rzepczynski pitched to 1 batter in the 6th.

Hagadone pitched to 2 batters in the 7th.

Atchison pitched to 2 batters in the 7th.

Holds: Madson (4), W.Davis (2), Hochevar (1). Inherited runners-scored: Rzepczynski 1-0, Shaw 2-0, Atchison 2-2, Allen 2-0. HBP: by Kluber (A.Gordon).

Umpires: Home, Gerry Davis; First, Tony Randazzo; Second, Phil Cuzzi; Third, Will Little. Time: 3:13. Att: 38,271.

This story was originally published May 7, 2015 at 6:45 PM with the headline "Luke Hochevar shines, Royals keep rolling in 7-4 victory over Cleveland."