| REGISTER TO WIN | |
 |
Take a good look at those standings this morning.
The Royals’ resurgent run continued Wednesday night in a 4-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies at Kauffman Stadium. The victory completed a three-game sweep and produced an additional prize when combined with Cleveland’s loss to San Francisco.
Last place, for today at least, is in the rearview mirror.
The Royals moved one-half game ahead of the Indians in the American League Central Division. Third-place Detroit is tantalizingly within reach, too. Heck, the Royals are just seven games behind first-place Chicago.
“That’s good,” closer Joakim Soria smiled. “That’s a start. Now, we’ve just got to keep it going.”
Soria contributed his usual Mexicutioner efficiency to Wednesday’s victory with two strikeouts in a one-two-three ninth for his 21st save in 22 opportunities. But the game belonged to rookie Luke Hochevar, who carved up the team he grew up rooting for with a barrage of darting sinkers.
“To be able to pitch against them, obviously, is a dream come true,” said Hochevar, who was born in Denver and grew up in Fowler, Colo.
“You have to think of them as just a hitter in there. Todd Helton, he’s a future Hall of Famer. If that’s going through my head, I’m in trouble.”
Hochevar, 5-5, was rarely in trouble as he limited the Rockies to two runs and seven hits in a career-high eight innings. It represented a strong bounce-back effort after squandering a four-run lead in last Friday’s 9-4 loss to the Giants.
“I’ve really sold out and bought into the process of throwing the ball down in the strike zone,” he said. “That was it: Intense focus down in the zone. That’s the difference between my last start and this start.
“The ball was down. When the ball is down, my sinker is that much better.”
How good was that sinker? Hochevar got 17 ground-ball outs.
“He did a real good job of making in-game adjustments,” manager Trey Hillman said, “which allowed him to pitch eight innings for us. He was elevating (in) the first couple of innings.”
The Royals have now won five in a row and 10 of their last 11 in improving to 36-43. Most of the gain has come in interleague play: The Royals are 12-3 against National League opponents.
“I think it’s just the way we’re playing,” said David DeJesus, whose two hits included an RBI single in a two-run third inning.
“We’re moving guys over and getting clutch hits. That’s the way the game is played.”
Ross Gload had three of the Royals’ eight hits, including a two-run double in the sixth that pushed the lead to 4-1 and finished Colorado starter Aaron Cook.
“Ross was due,” catcher John Buck said, “and he came due on the right day. Somebody new seems to be picking it up every game. As long we keep that as a trend, we’ll keep picking up Ws.”
Buck also contributed two hits and threw out a base-stealer for the first time this season in 24 opportunities. It came in the eighth inning when he gunned down Ryan Spilborghs with Matt Holliday at the plate as the potential tying run.
In beating Cook, the Royals beat one of the National League’s top pitchers. He entered the game with a chance to match Arizona’s Brandon Webb for the league lead in victories.
Instead, Cook fell to 10-5 after allowing four runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Hochevar allowed four hits in the second inning but limited the damage to one run. The Rockies got their other run on Brad Hawpe’s leadoff homer in the seventh.
The Royals now have an open date before concluding interleague play this weekend with three home games against the Cardinals.
“Right now,” Hochevar said, “we’re hitting on all cylinders. We’ve been swinging the bats outstandingly. We’ve been playing awesome defense, and we’ve been putting together some good pitching.”
And they’re out of last place. Don’t forget that.
Join the discussion
Share your observations and experiences about news. Lively, open debate is the goal, but please refrain from personal attacks or comments that are racist, vulgar or otherwise inappropriate. If you see an inappropriate comment, please click the "Report as violation" link to notify a KansasCity.com editor. Thanks for your feedback.