Luke Hochevar gets 1st big league win, Jose Guillen homers to help Royals edge Blue Jays 2-1
Associated Press | Apr 26, 08 9:31 PM CDT in
Sports
Luke Hochevar picked up his first big league victory in his third career start, Jose Guillen homered and the Kansas City Royals edged the Toronto Blue Jays 2-1 Saturday night.
The Blue Jays have lost six straight and 10 of 13, and fell five games below .500 for the first time since last May 25.
Hochevar (1-1), the first selection in the 2006 draft, held Toronto to six hits and one run in six innings in his seventh major league appearance. He struck out three and walked two.
Guillen, who the Royals signed to a three-year, $36 million contract in December to boost a punchless offense, homered to deep left off Shaun Marcum to lead off the sixth. It was Guillen's first home run this season at Kauffman Stadium and snapped a 1-1 tie.
Joakim Soria worked the ninth for his sixth save in as many chances. Soria gave up a one-out single to David Eckstein that ended his streak of retiring 24 in a row.
The Royals' Mark Teahen led off the third with a double down the right-field line and scored on Ross Gload's single, and the Blue Jays tied it in the fifth when former Royal Gregg Zaun led off the inning with a double and stopped at third on Eckstein's single.
Zaun scored when Tony Pena Jr. committed a fielding error on Alex Rios' ground ball.
Marcum (2-2), who went to Excelsior Springs (Mo.) High School, which is a Kansas City suburb, limited the Royals to four hits and one run in seven innings. He struck out four and walked three, but still took the loss.
The Blue Jays went 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position and stranded four runners at third base _ Scott Rolen in the second and fourth innings, Eckstein in the third and Rios in the eighth.
The Blue Jays stranded 10 runners, including seven in scoring position, and had the bases loaded in the eighth when Pena went deep into the hole and threw out Adam Lind from his knees to end the inning.
Notes:@ Royals 2B Mark Grudzielanek missed his fourth straight game with an irritated nerve on a disc in his lower back. ...The Blue Jays are 4-for-42 with runners in scoring position in the first five games of this trip. ... Eckstein had three of the eight Blue Jays hits.
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