Bob Dutton's vlog | Royals 2, Tigers 0
It merits an asterisk, perhaps, that this Verlander seems to bear little resemblance to the guy who spent the last two summers dominating opponents — all opponents, not just the Royals.
Even so, the Royals were 0-6 against him in nine previous encounters. Plus, it’s not as if this was easy. The Royals scraped together two runs in the second inning, and that was it.
“Hey, the pitching is good right now,” said Joey Gathright, who drove in the game’s only runs with a two-out single. “We’ve got it going. When it works like that, we can win some games.”
Rookie right-hander Luke Hochevar and another dominant bullpen performance made it stand up. Hochevar, 3-2, worked six scoreless innings even if it did require some scrambling.
The Tigers put runners on base each inning from the second through the sixth, including two in the third and sixth. Hochevar always had an answer, though he benefited from two borderline strike-three calls in the sixth against Magglio Ordoñez and Marcus Thames.
“The other guy gives up two runs,” Hochevar said, “you give up one run (or none). That’s the game. You can’t give up a five-spot and expect to win.”
Hochevar limited the Tigers to four hits, all singles, while striking out five, walking three and lowering his ERA to 3.94.
Lefty reliever Ron Mahay worked a one-two-three seventh before exiting after Placido Polanco’s leadoff single in the eighth. Leo Nuñez then yielded a first-pitch single to Carlos Guillen.
It looked like trouble until Ordoñez grounded into a double play that included a nice turn by second baseman Mark Grudzielanek with Guillen bearing down. Nuñez ended the inning by retiring Miguel Cabrera on a grounder to short.
Joakim Soria pitched the ninth and got his 10th save. He struck out the first two hitters before retiring Edgar Renteria on a grounder to mound. That extended Soria’s seasonlong scoreless streak to 16 1/3 innings over 17 games.
“He’s a beast,” left fielder David DeJesus said. “You see the swings those guys are putting on him, and it’s like, ‘Well, all right. I’m glad he’s on our side.’ ”
It was the Royals’ second shutout in three games as they matched a season high with their third straight victory. They are also 5-0 this season against the Tigers while limiting them to seven earned runs in 47 innings.
“They’ve got a lot of good arms coming out of the bullpen,” Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. “But we should not get shut out. (Hochevar) pitched very well, I certainly tip my hat to him. But I wouldn’t say that was shutout stuff.”
The Royals, 18-21, will try to complete a three-game sweep in this afternoon’s series finale. They began the season with a three-game sweep in Detroit, when they knocked out, but didn’t beat, Verlander in the opener.
Verlander, 1-7, has been one of the season’s biggest puzzlements — or disappointments. Take your pick. He entered the game with a 6.43 ERA after going 18-6 and 3.66 in 2007.
“He’s still got that fastball that runs away,” DeJesus said. “But it doesn’t seem he has that curveball that he can throw for strikes all of the time.
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