Game 19 vs. Tampa Bay

Yes, this is actually from Friday rather than today. Still, it’s a fun picture.

This game was the exact polar opposite of last Friday. It was a low-pressure situation with almost no visiting team fans in the stands. We played great. They didn’t. With the breeze, the weather was even comfortable.

Alex Gordon and Mike Moustakas combined a couple of doubles to put us on the board in the bottom of the first. We went quietly in the second, but then Rays pitcher Alex Cobb gave up a big inning in the third. Alcides Escobar led off with a bunt single, and after six more singles we had a six run lead.

We tacked on another station-to-station run in the fourth, and struggling-at-the-plate Eric Hosmer hit one into the promotional gimmick seats in the eighth. But that turned out to be all we needed. Actually. the run in the first was technically all we needed, as Tampa didn’t manage to score at all.

Luke Hochevar picked up a 113 pitch, complete game shut out. He was moving the ball all over the place, throwing combinations the Rays seemed unable to follow. In the middle innings he went on a real strikeout tear, finishing with a total of eight (five of them looking). Only once did a Ray make it past second, and even that was a stolen base.

Needless to say, he was the Player of the Game. Of course it didn’t hurt that he got some solid defensive support. In particular, the Play of the Game was a double play in the seventh that eliminated a lead-off runner. Escobar did a good job of jumping out of the way of a take-out slide (we don’t see those all that much anymore), and Hosmer did a good job of scooping out the somewhat wild throw.

Overall this was a great way to end the first half of the season. From here we go on the road for awhile, providing time to get the stadium ready for the All Star Game.

The box score:

RAYS (0) AT ROYALS (8)

RAYS                 AB  R  H BI  ROYALS               AB  R  H BI
Desmond Jennings      4  0  0  0  Alex Gordon           4  2  3  0  
Carlos Pena           3  0  0  0  Yuniesky Betancourt   3  1  1  3  
B.J. Upton            4  0  1  0  Mike Moustakas        4  0  1  1  
Hideki Matsui         4  0  0  0  Billy Butler          4  0  1  0  
Ben Zobrist           3  0  1  0  Jeff Francoeur        4  1  1  1  
 Will Rhymes          1  0  0  0  Eric Hosmer           4  2  2  2  
Brooks Conrad         4  0  1  0  Salvador Perez        4  0  1  1  
Sean Rodriguez        3  0  1  0  Jarrod Dyson          4  0  0  0  
Jose Molina           3  0  1  0  Alcides Escobar       3  2  3  0  
Elliot Johnson        3  0  2  0                                    
TOTALS               32  0  7  0  TOTALS               34  8 13  8

RAYS                          000 000 000 -- 0  
ROYALS                        105 100 01x -- 8  

LOB--RAYS 6, ROYALS 3. ERR--Brooks Conrad. 2B--Alex Gordon,
Alcides Escobar, Mike Moustakas. HR--Eric Hosmer.
SACF--Yuniesky Betancourt. SB--Elliot Johnson (2), Eric
Hosmer, Mike Moustakas.

 RAYS                            IP    H    R   ER   BB   SO   HR
Alex Cobb                         8   13    8    8    0    1    1
 ROYALS                     
Luke Hochevar                     9    7    0    0    1    8    0

WP--Alex Cobb. SO--Carlos Pena, B.J. Upton (2), Ben Zobrist,
Sean Rodriguez, Brooks Conrad (2), Desmond Jennings,
Salvador Perez. BB--Carlos Pena.

Buck seat: W (actual volunteer, not just a fundraiser)
Guard: AFJROTC
Anthem: Wow, you sing in public?

Umpires:
H: Tichenor
1: Vanover
2: Randazzo
3: Gordon

Time: 7:10
Temp: 89 (but felt much cooler)