Post by Fish Troll on May 13, 2007 18:07:38 GMT -5
Bats come alive in win over Chicago
Royals hitters pound out 15 hits; De La Rosa sharp
By Kerry Walls / Special to MLB.com
CHICAGO -- The Royals used their pink bats to take out their offensive frustrations on White Sox pitching on Mother's Day.
David DeJesus had four hits and two RBIs and Mark Teahen hit a three-run home run as Kansas City avoided a sweep in Chicago with an 11-1 win at U.S. Cellular Field on Sunday.
Every Royals starter got at least one hit, and the team scored 10 or more runs for the second time this season.
"That's a game we haven't had all year," manager Buddy Bell said. "It's nice to have that, especially after [the 5-4 loss on Saturday]."
Catcher John Buck summed up the victory best: "We needed it. We needed something like this to get it going, get everybody feeling good about ourselves. If we can use this to our advantage and dwell on this instead of the losses, then hopefully we can use it."
With the score tied at 1, Kansas City erupted for three runs in the fifth on Teahen's homer off White Sox starter Javier Vazquez to take a 4-1 lead.
"I've actually really struggled with him in the past," Teahen said, referring to his .167 average against Vazquez before Sunday. "But he left a changeup up, and I got a good piece of it."
"Teahen got us going off a guy who's really been tough against us in the past," Bell said. "[Teahen] is one of the guys we really count on. He's good player; he plays hard, works hard."
Royals starter Jorge De La Rosa allowed one run on three hits over seven innings to get his fourth win and first road victory of the season. He walked three and struck out four.
De La Rosa worked out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the fourth to keep the scored tied at 1 by striking out Tadahito Iguchi and inducing a flyout to left from Ryan Sweeney.
"He did a nice job," Bell said, addressing the fourth-inning jam. "He basically did what we needed him to do. To just get out of [the fourth] with just one run, that was crucial."
De La Rosa said of that long fourth inning: "I struggled a bit, but I stayed focused and got the next two hitters."
KC added six more insurance runs over the final three innings. Tony Pena Jr. and DeJesus drove in two runs each, while Esteban German, Ross Gload and Mike Sweeney picked up the other RBIs.
"I felt early in the season we had the potential to do this," Teahen said, "and we haven't done it to this point. It's nice to have a day where it all clicks."
DeJesus tied a career high with four hits in a game to go along with the two RBIs and three runs scored. He had been in a 2-for-21 slump coming into Sunday's game.
"I'm happy for David, because he's crucial to what we do offensively," Bell said. "He struggled a little bit last week, so it was nice for him to get some hits."
Kerry Walls is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Royals hitters pound out 15 hits; De La Rosa sharp
By Kerry Walls / Special to MLB.com
CHICAGO -- The Royals used their pink bats to take out their offensive frustrations on White Sox pitching on Mother's Day.
David DeJesus had four hits and two RBIs and Mark Teahen hit a three-run home run as Kansas City avoided a sweep in Chicago with an 11-1 win at U.S. Cellular Field on Sunday.
Every Royals starter got at least one hit, and the team scored 10 or more runs for the second time this season.
"That's a game we haven't had all year," manager Buddy Bell said. "It's nice to have that, especially after [the 5-4 loss on Saturday]."
Catcher John Buck summed up the victory best: "We needed it. We needed something like this to get it going, get everybody feeling good about ourselves. If we can use this to our advantage and dwell on this instead of the losses, then hopefully we can use it."
With the score tied at 1, Kansas City erupted for three runs in the fifth on Teahen's homer off White Sox starter Javier Vazquez to take a 4-1 lead.
"I've actually really struggled with him in the past," Teahen said, referring to his .167 average against Vazquez before Sunday. "But he left a changeup up, and I got a good piece of it."
"Teahen got us going off a guy who's really been tough against us in the past," Bell said. "[Teahen] is one of the guys we really count on. He's good player; he plays hard, works hard."
Royals starter Jorge De La Rosa allowed one run on three hits over seven innings to get his fourth win and first road victory of the season. He walked three and struck out four.
De La Rosa worked out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the fourth to keep the scored tied at 1 by striking out Tadahito Iguchi and inducing a flyout to left from Ryan Sweeney.
"He did a nice job," Bell said, addressing the fourth-inning jam. "He basically did what we needed him to do. To just get out of [the fourth] with just one run, that was crucial."
De La Rosa said of that long fourth inning: "I struggled a bit, but I stayed focused and got the next two hitters."
KC added six more insurance runs over the final three innings. Tony Pena Jr. and DeJesus drove in two runs each, while Esteban German, Ross Gload and Mike Sweeney picked up the other RBIs.
"I felt early in the season we had the potential to do this," Teahen said, "and we haven't done it to this point. It's nice to have a day where it all clicks."
DeJesus tied a career high with four hits in a game to go along with the two RBIs and three runs scored. He had been in a 2-for-21 slump coming into Sunday's game.
"I'm happy for David, because he's crucial to what we do offensively," Bell said. "He struggled a little bit last week, so it was nice for him to get some hits."
Kerry Walls is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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