Jeff Francoeur's tiebreaking hit gives Kansas City Royals a 2-1 win over Texas Rangers – MLB Update
Kansas City Royals put an end to their five-game losing streak, beating Texas Rangers 2-1 with a brilliant RBI single in the 10th inning by Jeff Francoeur at Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City on Thursday, May 19.
"We needed this," said Francoeur. "We'd been battling hard. It wasn't like we've been blown out all those games. To get this tonight was huge. This kind of win gets everybody relaxed and having fun again."
Kansas City had inched closer to victory only on Wednesday night, but was thwarted by the Rangers, as the latter won 5-4. However, on Thursday, the Royals descended on the ground with a transformed mentality, determined to end their losing streak.
The series second game began with Luke Hochevar pitching for Kansas City. Hochevar began aggressively and limited the Texas’ hitters to a scoreless first inning. Derek Holland, on the other hand, pitched an effective inning, as he gave up two hits.
Chris Davis gave an early lead to Texas in the second inning. He homered to right to score the first run for Rangers, a lead that was successfully maintained by Holland.
In effect, the game was marked by strong pitches which rendered the hitters miserably unable to score. While Holland was in a bid to pitch a shut-out inning, it was Mike Aviles who proved to be a thorn in his neck.
Aviles reached on an infield single to short-stop to score the tie in the ninth inning while Holland was left gazing in astonishment. The game got a new life after the tying score, as Holland gave up three hits in the inning.
As the Royals had announced their sudden return in the game, the Rangers changed the pitching sensation, Holland. However, as Darren Oliver replaced Holland, Jeff Francoeur singled to centre to not only to give an eagerly anticipated yet seemingly unlikely
2-1 victory to Kansas City.
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