Royals Roller Coaster
It’s not often that I put too much emphasis on one game. Baseball is a long season. I’d like to come up with a better cliché than: it’s a marathon, not a sprint. But that is what the baseball season is. However, Wednesday night’s ball game between the Royals and Indians was a great microcosm of what I believe this season will be like as a Royals fan.
Luke Hochaver comes out of the gate in puts the Indians away on 5 pitches in the first inning. Alex the Dominator continued his dominating by hitting a triple and then scoring a run. The Royals jump out to a 2-0 lead against a pitcher who has given up 3 runs all season. As the game goes on Hochaver is dealing, and eventually gets into the 6th inning having retired every hitter he’s faced. If you go back to his previous start, he’s retired 31 consecutive batters. That’s 10.1 innings of perfect ball. Hochaver is finally pitching like a number 1 draft pick who held out for money.
As fan I’m watching Hochaver dispatch the Indians in the 5th. I don’t even care what the Royals do in the bottom of the inning. I think we’re really watching something special. Then the wheels fall off. Hochaver gives up his first hit, and then pitches like the fifth starter for the Ft Worth Cats. Hochaver even committed 2 balks, doubling his total for his professional career. You couldn’t even blame the balks on every fans favorite umpire to criticize; Joe West. Hochcaver eventually ends up giving up 6 earned runs, on 5 hits. And the Royals eventually lose 7-5.
