Texas @ Kansas City preview
Kauffman Stadium
Last Meeting ( May 25, 2010 ) Texas 8, Kansas City 7
The Kansas City Royals used the No. 1 overall pick in 2006 on Luke Hochevar, expecting the big right-hander to develop into a front-line starter.
And, in his third season in the majors, Hochevar has shown glimpses of becoming an ace-caliber pitcher. He went the distance for the first time this season in his last start, leading the Royals to a 9-3 victory over Cleveland on Thursday, allowing only four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.
Hochevar will try to build on that outing this afternoon, when he takes the hill against the Texas Rangers. The Rangers, who won the first of the brief two-game series, will counter with right-hander Scott Feldman.
In his last start against Texas, Hochevar struggled. He lasted only 2 2/3 innings, allowing four runs (all earned) on three hits with four walks, a hit batter and one strikeout.
Offensively, Kansas City has scored seven runs in each of its past two games but lost both. Still, Billy Butler had another multi-hit game Tuesday night, as did Mitch Maier, Willie Bloomquist and Jason Kendall.
Ultimately, errors can be traced back to what killed the Royals on Tuesday. In the fifth inning, Kansas City shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt made a fielding error that allowed Elvis Andrus to reach base. Three batters later, Rangers slugger Vladimir Guerrero belted a two-run home run.
Texas, on the other hand, would like to keep its offense rolling against Kansas City.
Guerrero had a monster game Tuesday, belting a couple of two-run home runs and adding what proved to be the go-ahead run on an RBI double in the seventh inning. Nelson Cruz and Josh Hamilton also went deep for the Rangers. In fact, eight of the nine starters recorded hits for the Rangers.
Feldman, meanwhile, is still trying to become the dominant starter he was last season, when he rattled off 17 wins after moving into the rotation.
Feldman had a decent outing last Thursday, going six innings, allowing four runs (all earned) on 12 hits with a walk and five strikeouts in Texas’ 13-7 victory over Baltimore.
With that outing, Feldman earned his first victory since April 11, snapping a six-game winless drought.
He has pitched well against the Royals. Feldman is 2-0 with a 3.27 ERA in 10 career games against them, including 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA in three starts.