NewsMeche wins for Royals in return from DL
Starter lasts five as Kansas City takes first series since June
By Dick Kaegel / MLB.com
08/13/09 6:13 PM ET
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Royals haven't experienced this in quite a while -- a series victory.The Royals defeated the Minnesota Twins, 5-4, on Thursday afternoon to take the series, two games to one. That hasn't happened since June 23-25 at Houston, where the Royals won the first two of three games.
"Hey, fellas, a series win," manager Trey Hillman said as he greeted reporters afterward. "How about that?"
Gil Meche got a victory in his first game off the disabled list, with Joakim Soria nailing it down with a six-out save. And, of all the unlikely things, a skinny 5-4 lead held up through the last four innings.
Alex Gordon's solo home run, lined into the left-field seats against right-hander Carl Pavano, turned out to be the winning run. At the time, though, it gave the Royals a 5-1 lead.
"It felt good," Gordon said. "We were able to get an early lead and that was nice. Then the bullpen got into some tough situations but sucked it up and got out of it. It was impressive -- things we haven't been able to do lately, we were able to do."
Soria was making his first appearance since giving up three runs to Oakland last Saturday night. This was his 19th save of the season and his third of two innings.
The 32,373 fans at the Metrodome had reason to hope, even after Soria skated through the eighth with one walk and two strikeouts. After all, the Twins had the heart of their order coming up, including Joe Mauer -- who already had four RBIs -- and Justin Morneau.
"Even his walk put us in a position to have to face the second of the M&M boys, but he got the job done, so that's the bottom line," Hillman said.
After Orlando Cabrera lined out, Mauer grounded out and Morneau popped out. It was over.
"As soon as you get Soria in the game, he's got ice water in his veins, so it doesn't matter who's up there," said center fielder Willie Bloomquist, who drove in Kansas City's first two runs. "He's going to hit his spots, and he gets outs. That's what good closers do.
"There ain't too many easy guys in that lineup. But he had to go through the big boys -- Babe Ruth and Ted Williams -- there in the ninth, so any time you get those guys out..."
You're in pretty good shape. Sure enough, the Royals won for the fourth time in seven games.
Meche's return to the Royals' rotation after missing four starts with a back ailment went well for four innings. The only blemish came in the first, when Denard Span's single and Mauer's double resulted in a run.
Meanwhile, the Royals provided Meche with that 5-1 lead.
David DeJesus opened the game with a triple off Pavano and scored on a groundout. Yuniesky Betancourt and Bloomquist singled, then Billy Butler doubled home a run in a three-run third inning.
Then came Gordon's homer in the fourth.
Meche retired the first two batters in the fifth before his wheels wobbled.
"Yeah, I'm happy that we won," Meche said. "But it's pretty disappointing to drop a three-spot in the fifth inning and you're done."
Meche issued a walk to Span, Cabrera singled and Mauer crashed a three-run homer to right field to pull the Twins within a run.
"Mauer's just that guy that you can't out-think," Meche said. "I went four pitches in a row, slow away, and I'm like, 'You know what, I'll try to sneak one by him inside.' And I put it in pretty much a perfect spot for a power lefty to hit out of the ballpark -- knee high and corner in. He just dropped the bat and smoked it."
That's why Mauer is the American League's leading hitter. This month alone, the catcher's batted .435 with 13 RBIs in 11 games.
Before the inning was over, Meche gave up another walk and a single, and that was it. All of a sudden he was up to 83 pitches, enough for his first start in more than a month. For the most part, though, Meche accomplished his goal of throwing a lot of strikes and emerging with his back feeling no pain.
Robinson Tejeda took over in the sixth and lasted just six pitches, all called balls. After a walk to Joe Crede and a 2-0 count on Mike Redmond, that was enough for Hillman. He waved for Jamey Wright.
"I don't do that with the intent of trying to embarrass anybody, but when somebody's a Major League pitcher and you can't locate one pitch in six pitches, that usually spells trouble," Hillman said.
The change was no instant remedy, because Wright proceeded to walk Redmond (it was charged to Tejeda) and, after a strikeout, also walked Span to load the bases. But Wright escaped, as second baseman Alberto Callaspo turned Cabrera's bouncer into a nicely-executed double play.
"Six bases on balls -- that's tough to monitor, especially against an offensive club like this, in this ballpark," Hillman said.
But only the first of Meche's two walks resulted in a run. And the Twins twice left the potential tying run on third base against the Royals' bullpen.
"It could be us trying too hard, and it's also the pitchers making good pitches when they need to," the Twins' Jason Kubel said. "They've got a bunch of different looks in that bullpen. They found a way."
And the Royals found a way to their first series victory after going through 12 series without one.
"It's been a long time, all the way back in Interleague Play," Hillman said. "And with the lack of wins and our record sitting where it is, it seems even longer."
Dick Kaegel is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
