NewsTejeda looking to build on first start
Kansas City (53-85) vs. Detroit (75-62), 7:10 p.m. CT
By Dick Kaegel / MLB.com
09/08/09 11:53 PM ET
KANSAS CITY -- Robinson Tejeda is not at all pleased by the circumstances. After all, he's pitching for the Royals on Wednesday night only because Gil Meche has a tired shoulder.The good part, though, is that he's getting a second straight starting assignment after spending all season in the bullpen.
"It's a chance but I don't feel like saying I'm happy about it because it's on my teammate," he said.
Tejeda filled in very nicely for Meche last Friday night. He held the Angels scoreless for 5 1/3 innings and left with a 1-0 lead, although the Royals eventually lost, 2-1. The club is still awaiting further medical reports on Meche and starter Brian Bannister for the same ailment. So Tejeda gets the ball again.
"It's another opportunity that I've got to get myself ready for," Tejeda said. "I'm not going to say I'm going to win again or I'm going to lose. I'm just going to pitch."
Against the Angels, Tejeda didn't issue a walk until he issued back-to-back passes in the sixth. Then he was relieved. But it was an impressive outing for a big, hard-throwing right-hander who often had control issues in the past.
"I'm going to try to do the same, keep the ball in the strike zone and be aggressive with all my pitches. Make the batter swing the bat and see what happens," he said.
In his past nine relief appearances beginning on July 31, he allowed just one earned run (0.55 ERA) with five hits, four walks and 21 strikeouts in 21 2/3 innings. So his success in his start came as no big surprise.
"This whole month I've been throwing a lot of strikes, so that day I was exactly the same. In the sixth inning, I'm not going to say I was tired. I know I hadn't thrown more than three or four innings this year," he said.
On Wednesday night, he goes against another first-place club, the Tigers. It was a while back but Tejeda won his only other start against Detroit, 3-1, on Aug. 19, 2006, when he was with the Rangers.
"All the teams we're going to face this month are all pretty good. You can say I've got a lot of hard work ahead but, if you look at it in a different way and you believe in yourself, you can compare yourself with them. They're pretty good hitters but you can be a pretty good pitcher, too, so there's no way you can be scared about it," Tejeda said.
"I just take that as an advantage for me. I'm just going to face them and if they're that good, they're going to [beat] me. If I'm better than them, then they're going to be sorry about it."
Tejeda is from the Dominican Republic and he and the other Hispanic Royals got to meet the star Mexican entertainer Angelica Vale last Saturday night at the Viva Los Royals celebration. Tejeda was the coach for her ceremonial first pitch.
"I just told her, 'Just don't think about where you're going to put the ball, just throw it. Don't worry about it. Just throw the ball as hard as you can and it's going to go somewhere,' " Tejeda said.
Vale threw a strike to catcher Brayan Pena.
That "somewhere," Tejeda must have known from recent experience, would be the strike zone.
Pitching matchupKC: RHP Robinson Tejeda (1-1, 3.61 ERA)
Tejeda has a string of 13 straight scoreless innings, in which he's given up only two hits. Although he's no certainty to finish the season in the rotation, his recent performances give him a chance to return to starting, which he did more often in stints with Philadelphia and Texas. DET: RHP Justin Verlander (16-7, 3.29 ERA)
Verlander continued to make his case to be the American League Cy Young Award winner on Friday when he overcame an intense pitchers' duel with the Rays' Jeff Niemann and notched his 16th win -- tied for the AL lead at the time. Verlander gave up a run in the second inning, but he retired 10 of his next 11 batters and ended up giving up just that one run on four hits and a walk while striking out seven in eight innings. The 26-year-old did, however, need 126 pitches (85 strikes) to get through his outing. Verlander has thrown at least 100 pitches in 24 of his 29 starts this year, with 14 of those being for 115-plus. Verlander, who has a 2.64 ERA since April 27, is 9-1 with a 2.38 ERA in 13 career starts against the Royals. Crown points
The Royals have three Minor League clubs taking part in the playoffs on Wednesday. Double-A Northwest Arkansas will play Springfield; Class A Wilmington will play Lynchburg, and Class A Burlington will play Kane County. ... Mark Teahen was honored before Tuesday night's game as the Royals' nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award. As a result, a donation was made to the YMCA Challenger Division baseball. ... Catcher Will Meyers went 5-for-5 with a homer and four runs in Rookie Idaho Falls' 15-9 win over Ogden. ... Billie Bock, the first female manager at the 3&2 Baseball Club in Johnson County, Mo., was in the Buck O'Neil Legacy Seat on Tuesday night. She coached boys teams throughout the '70s and '80s. Bock's interest came from his days of playing in the All-American Girls Pro League. Tickets
Buy tickets now to catch the game in person.
On the Internet
MLB.TV
Gameday Audio• Gameday
• Official game notes On television
• FSKC-HD On radio
• KCSP 610 Up next
• Thursday: Royals (Lenny DiNardo, 0-0, 0.00) vs. Tigers (Jarrod Washburn, 9-8, 3.55), 1:10 p.m. CT
• Friday: Royals (Zack Greinke, 13-8, 2.22) at Indians (Jeremy Sowers, 6-9, 4.78), 6:05 p.m. CT
• Saturday: Royals (Luke Hochevar, 6-9, 6.10) at Indians (Justin Masterson, 4-7, 4.40), 6:05 p.m. CT
Dick Kaegel is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
