NewsCallaspo, Olivo go back-to-back in victory
Hochevar dominates Twins to earn third win since return
By Dick Kaegel / MLB.com
06/30/09 12:48 AM ET
KANSAS CITY -- Luke Hochevar was two different pitchers with the same result -- seven shutout innings. Miguel Olivo was the same effective hitter with three different results -- home run, triple and single.Put the Royals' pitcher and his catcher together and they added up to a 4-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins on a balmy Monday night at Kauffman Stadium.
Hochevar sprinkled four walks into his first three innings and yet, even with an error mixed in, he didn't allow a run. Then he re-discovered control of his fastball and clicked off four more shutout innings.
"My fastball command wasn't there. I was falling behind hitters," Hochevar said. "It wasn't as if I was all over the place. I was just missing with balls I usually spot up pretty well, but I dealt with it."
He sure did. Through his seven innings, he gave up just two hits. Michael Cuddyer doubled to lead off the fourth, the Twins' first hit, but Hochevar retired 10 straight batters before allowing another hit, Delmon Young's single in the seventh. And he tidied up by throwing a double-play pitch on his 102nd and final delivery of the night.
In the meantime, the 22,066 fans were treated to a power display by Alberto Callaspo and Olivo in the bottom of the sixth. Callaspo led off against Nick Blackburn with a home run into the right-field bullpen, and Olivo followed with a blast into the left-field seats.
Those were the Royals' third back-to-back home runs of the season, and both came on 3-2 counts.
It was the fifth for Callaspo, who had never hit a Major League home run before this season.
"I'm lucky," Callaspo said. "I'm just lucky."
It was the 12th this year for Olivo.
"I hit a home run?" Olivo said. "I didn't even think about home runs right now. I'm just happy to win the game."
OK, so they were suitably modest. And they were back at it in the next inning when Callaspo singled with two out and Olivo banged a triple to left-center field to score him for a 4-0 lead.
The Royals' first run came on an error. Olivo got a two-out single and Mitch Maier doubled to right field. When Cuddyer heaved the ball high over second base and not even close to a Twins teammate, Olivo continued home.
The seventh-inning run turned out to be a handy one because, in the eighth, John Bale relieved Hochevar and gave up a two-run homer to Justin Morneau.
In the ninth, Joakim Soria turned in a save for the second straight day, his first back-to-back outings since returning from the disabled list. This time, it came in the form of three successive strikeouts of Cuddyer, Brian Buscher and Delmon Young.
"I'm starting to feel pretty good right now. My command is better, which is important for me because I don't throw too hard," Soria said.
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was ejected in the sixth inning, throwing his cap dramatically as he got the heave-ho by plate umpire Larry Vanover. Gardenhire claimed the groundout by Jason Kubel to first baseman Billy Butler was foul because it glanced off Kubel's foot.
Gardenhire was irate because Vanover declined to ask the third-base ump for help on the call.
Hochevar, who delivered the pitch, said he really couldn't tell.
"I couldn't see where it hit. It still had some good speed going to first, but I didn't see where it hit," he said.
By then, Hochevar was in a groove, having conquered his lack of fastball command in the early innings. Taking his cue from pitching coach Bob McClure, Hochevar compensated by going to his other pitches for a while.
"To just figure it out and bide my time until I got my fastball command back was big for me, and a step in the right direction," he said.
Gardenhire, before his abrupt departure, was impressed.
"He made pitches when he had to and, sure, we helped him a little bit, but that's because he's got nasty stuff," Gardenhire said. "The ball looks like it's there, and it was diving all over the place, and his slider was snapping. He was starting hitters with a big slow curveball as it went along. It looked like he got a better feel for everything."
Hochevar, for his part, nodded appreciatively toward Olivo -- and not just for his booming bat.
"Miggy called a great game, he helped me out a lot," Hochevar said. "He came and talked to me a couple of times and we got on the same page and got things rolling."
They were a dynamic duo, for sure.
Dick Kaegel is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
