Jeff Francoeur shines as Kansas City Royals defeat Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 – MLB Update
The Kansas City Royals beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 at Kauffman Stadium, Kansas in a closely fought game on Thursday, June 9, as Jeff Francoeur drove in two runs to give the Royals their fourth victory in last eleven games.
The games at home did not have a desirably result as Hochevar referred to. "You never want to go through those stretches," Hochevar said. "Sometimes they happen. You've just got to battle through them and stay positive and continue to pound the strike zone
and do what you do."
After losing the previous two encounters against the Toronto Blue Jays in the four-game series, Hochevar started the game aggressively with his three consecutive scoreless innings. The pace of his fastballs did not seem to decelerate as he continued to pitch
effectively.
His rival, Ricky Romero pitching for the Toronto Blue Jays, faltered in the third inning that allowed the Royals to take maximum advantage from the opportunity.
Eric Hosmer singled to right in the third inning to formally open the Royals’ account, giving an early lead. Once the Royals scored the first run, Francoeur struck a magnificent two-run homer and tripled the lead.
"Maybe this will be good for us, to kind of get out on the road for a while and get away," Francoeur said. "The homestand started out great, went sour and then we finished on a nice, positive note."
The 3-0 lead was quickly brought down by the intimidating J.P. Arencibia who tripled to deep left, earning two runs for the team. His two-run homer ostensibly brought the team back in the game.
Although Hochevar had given up two runs, the team management decided to retain him and let him pitch. Hochevar proved his worth, as he played confidently and put in an amazing performance.
Hochevar pitched into seven innings to contain Toronto’s hitters, allowing only two runs. Even though it was only the third inning that Romero blundered in, his good spells of pitching till the seventh inning could not save the game from slipping through
their hands.
Once Aaron Crow came out to pitch in the eighth inning, he had a marvellously executed pitching inning, making it a shut-out and maintaining the 3-2 lead. Joakim Soria pitched the shut-out ninth inning to give Kansas a much-needed 3-2 victory.
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