Royals utility man Willie Bloomquist doesn&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s a coincidence he&rsquo;s posting good numbers in the first season he&rsquo;s gotten extended, consistent playing time.</p><p>Bloomquist, 31, signed with the Royals as a free agent after spending seven seasons in Seattle. With the Mariners, he never had more than 251 at-bats or hit above .279 in a season.</p><p>But through 46 games with the Royals, Bloomquist is hitting .291 with a .353 on-base percentage. He&rsquo;s also started 10 consecutive games, and his 134 at-bats put him only 31 short of the number he had in Seattle last season. </p><p>&ldquo;When you get out there and you can get comfortable and get consistent at-bats, you&rsquo;re able to see pitches and make adjustments on a day-to-day basis as opposed to a week-to-week basis,&rdquo; Bloomquist said. &ldquo;It certainly helps.&rdquo;</p><p>Bloomquist also said that while he loved his time in Seattle, he was ready for a fresh start.</p><p>&ldquo;You keep doing the same thing over and over and over every year, and it kind of gets a little stale,&rdquo; Bloomquist said. &ldquo;I was just ready for something new. This has been a good change for me.&rdquo;</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Soria&rsquo;s shoulder feels stronger</span></strong></p><p>For a while, it appeared that closer Joakim Soria was going to get a little work in the Royals&rsquo; 7-1 victory over the Reds on Sunday. </p><p>When the Royals led 5-1 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning, manager Trey Hillman said he was prepared to give Soria the ball in the top of the ninth. Soria started warming up, but the Royals added two runs in the bottom of the inning, and Hillman thought better of it.</p><p>Had Soria made an appearance, it would have been the first time since May 2-3 he pitched in games on back-to-back days.</p><p>&ldquo;That was something mentally and physically I wanted him to get over,&rdquo; Hillman said. &ldquo;(But) the fact he got heated up and knew he was coming in the game, that was close enough.&rdquo;</p><p>For his part, Soria &mdash; who missed 17 games because of a right rotator cuff strain &mdash; insists his shoulder feels good.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s getting stronger,&rdquo; Soria said.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Hillman praises work on bases</span></strong></p><p>Hillman was pleased with his team&rsquo;s hard-nosed play on Sunday. For instance, Royals catcher Miguel Olivo beat out what could have been a double play in the third inning, thanks to a hard slide into second by designated hitter Mike Jacobs. </p><p>Only one run scored on the play, which gave the Royals a 2-1 lead. However, second baseman Alberto Callaspo followed with a two-run triple, and third baseman Mark Teahen added an RBI single to stretch the lead to 5-1.</p><p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s just good, hard baseball,&rdquo; said Hillman, referring to his team&rsquo;s base running. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s any better gauge in gauging an opponent&rsquo;s play than the effort and energy and professionalism they have in running the bases hard. I&rsquo;m pleased with how our guys do it.&rdquo;