KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Luke Hochevar has made his final start of the season, the third Kansas City Royals starter to be shut down in September.

Manager Ned Yost said Thursday that Hochevar — who has thrown a career-high 198 innings, 90 more than last season when he missed 2 1/2 months with an elbow injury — would not pitch again this year for “his protection and his health.”

Hochevar finished 11-11 with a 4.88 ERA.

Yost said left-hander Jeff Francis’ start Thursday night against the Chicago White Sox would be his last this season. Rookie left-hander Danny Duffy was shut down after a Sept. 6 start because of his workload.

Right-handers Luis Mendoza and Vin Mazzaro, who are pitching for Triple-A Omaha in the PCL championship series, will likely move into the Kansas City rotation.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

TORONTO (AP) – Ricky Romero wasn’t at his best, and the Kansas City Royals still couldn’t figure out a way to beat him.

Brett Lawrie hit a tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning, Jose Bautista added his major league-leading 37th homer and the Toronto Blue Jays beat Kansas City 4-3 on Wednesday night.

Jesse Litsch (5-3) pitched a scoreless inning of relief for the win. Frank Francisco worked ninth for his 11th save.

Romero came in with a 5-0 record and 0.89 ERA since July 27, tied for the most wins in the majors while compiling the best ERA in that span. But the lefty wasn’t as sharp in this one, giving up three runs and eight hits in six innings. That was as many earned runs as he had allowed in his previous three starts combined.

Romero, who walked four and struck out three, said he’s matured enough to battle when his command isn’t there.

“It’s part of growing up as a pitcher, from my rookie year to now,” he said. “I don’t let little stuff bother me. My job is to go out there and make quality pitches and try to get as many innings as possible. That’s what I did today. I didn’t have my best stuff, but I grinded through six innings and when you can call this a bad day, I’ll take it.”

Blue Jays manager John Farrell said Romero has learned to channel his competitive fire when he needs to.

“I think this was one of those times where he relied on it a lot to get through some situations when one pitch or the other wasn’t always working,” Farrell said.

Kansas City took a 2-0 lead through three innings against Toronto’s ace but couldn’t manage another hit with runners in scoring position the rest of the way. The Royals stranded 11 runners and went 2 for 14 with men in scoring position.

“We put three runs up on one of the best lefties in the game,” Royals designated hitter Billy Butler said. “You can’t really say we didn’t try to capitalize on his mistakes. That’s just how it is. Even when he’s off you’re only going to get three and when he’s on you’re going to get none.”

Melky Cabrera walked to begin the ninth and, after Butler lined out, stole second. Francisco struck out Eric Hosmer and ended it by getting Jeff Francoeur to line out to right.

Louis Coleman (1-3) took the loss for the Royals, who have not won consecutive games since Aug. 3-4. Kansas City has won four of its past 16.

Lawrie broke a 3-3 tie with a leadoff blast to left in the seventh, his fourth. The rookie third baseman also hit an RBI triple in the fourth.

“It’s always fun when you get in games where it’s close and you can contribute,” Lawrie said. “That was a fun game. The pitchers kept us in it and we battled all game.”

Romero hit Alex Gordon to begin the first and the Royals outfielder stole second before scoring on Butler’s double.

Gordon walked to open the third, moved to second on a grounder and came home on Butler’s RBI single.

Toronto scored three runs in the fourth. Yunel Escobar was hit by a pitch from right-hander Luke Hochevar and Bautista responded to an inside pitch by hitting a towering home run off the facing of the third deck in left.

Hochevar insisted he wasn’t trying to hit either Escobar or Bautista.

“There’s not a rule that says you can’t pitch inside,” Hochevar said. “If they’re going to stand there and stare at me when I come inside that’s fine, but I’m going to keep doing it. I’m not out there trying to hit guys or hurt anyone.”

Bautista played down the staredown incident, saying he didn’t look at Hochevar “for any particular reason.”

One out later, Edwin Encarnacion singled and then scored on Lawrie’s triple to left-center.

Kansas City tied it when Gordon led off the fifth with a homer to right, his career-high 17th.

Like Romero, Hochevar didn’t figure in the decision, allowing three runs and four hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out five.

NOTES: Francisco has not allowed a run in a season-high 11 innings. … Lawrie’s triple snapped an 0 for 10 slump. … With OF Colby Rasmus sidelined by a sore right wrist, Toronto recalled OF Darin Mastroianni from Triple-A Las Vegas and then he made his major league debut in CF. He went 0 for 2 with a sacrifice. … 2B Kelly Johnson, acquired in Tuesday’s trade with Arizona, did not join the Blue Jays on Wednesday. He is expected to arrive in time to start Thursday. … Kansas City LHP Jeff Francis (4-14) faces Toronto LHP Brett Cecil (4-6) in Thursday’s series finale.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

TORONTO (AP) — Ricky Romero wasn’t at his best, and the Kansas City Royals still couldn’t figure out a way to beat him.

Brett Lawrie hit a tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning, Jose Bautista added his major league-leading 37th homer and the Toronto Blue Jays beat Kansas City 4-3 on Wednesday night.

Jesse Litsch (5-3) pitched a scoreless inning of relief for the win. Frank Francisco worked ninth for his 11th save.

Romero came in with a 5-0 record and 0.89 ERA since July 27, tied for the most wins in the majors while compiling the best ERA in that span. But the lefty wasn’t as sharp in this one, giving up three runs and eight hits in six innings. That was as many earned runs as he had allowed in his previous three starts combined.

Romero, who walked four and struck out three, said he’s matured enough to battle when his command isn’t there.

“It’s part of growing up as a pitcher, from my rookie year to now,” he said. “I don’t let little stuff bother me. My job is to go out there and make quality pitches and try to get as many innings as possible. That’s what I did today. I didn’t have my best stuff, but I grinded through six innings and when you can call this a bad day, I’ll take it.”

Blue Jays manager John Farrell said Romero has learned to channel his competitive fire when he needs to.

“I think this was one of those times where he relied on it a lot to get through some situations when one pitch or the other wasn’t always working,” Farrell said.

Kansas City took a 2-0 lead through three innings against Toronto’s ace but couldn’t manage another hit with runners in scoring position the rest of the way. The Royals stranded 11 runners and went 2 for 14 with men in scoring position.

“We put three runs up on one of the best lefties in the game,” Royals designated hitter Billy Butler said. “You can’t really say we didn’t try to capitalize on his mistakes. That’s just how it is. Even when he’s off you’re only going to get three and when he’s on you’re going to get none.”

Melky Cabrera walked to begin the ninth and, after Butler lined out, stole second. Francisco struck out Eric Hosmer and ended it by getting Jeff Francoeur to line out to right.

Louis Coleman (1-3) took the loss for the Royals, who have not won consecutive games since Aug. 3-4. Kansas City has won four of its past 16.

Lawrie broke a 3-3 tie with a leadoff blast to left in the seventh, his fourth. The rookie third baseman also hit an RBI triple in the fourth.

“It’s always fun when you get in games where it’s close and you can contribute,” Lawrie said. “That was a fun game. The pitchers kept us in it and we battled all game.”

Romero hit Alex Gordon to begin the first and the Royals outfielder stole second before scoring on Butler’s double.

Gordon walked to open the third, moved to second on a grounder and came home on Butler’s RBI single.

Toronto scored three runs in the fourth. Yunel Escobar was hit by a pitch from right-hander Luke Hochevar and Bautista responded to an inside pitch by hitting a towering home run off the facing of the third deck in left.

Hochevar insisted he wasn’t trying to hit either Escobar or Bautista.

“There’s not a rule that says you can’t pitch inside,” Hochevar said. “If they’re going to stand there and stare at me when I come inside that’s fine, but I’m going to keep doing it. I’m not out there trying to hit guys or hurt anyone.”

Bautista played down the staredown incident, saying he didn’t look at Hochevar “for any particular reason.”

One out later, Edwin Encarnacion singled and then scored on Lawrie’s triple to left-center.

Kansas City tied it when Gordon led off the fifth with a homer to right, his career-high 17th.

Like Romero, Hochevar didn’t figure in the decision, allowing three runs and four hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out five.

NOTES: Francisco has not allowed a run in a season-high 11 innings. … Lawrie’s triple snapped an 0 for 10 slump. … With OF Colby Rasmus sidelined by a sore right wrist, Toronto recalled OF Darin Mastroianni from Triple-A Las Vegas and then he made his major league debut in CF. He went 0 for 2 with a sacrifice. … 2B Kelly Johnson, acquired in Tuesday’s trade with Arizona, did not join the Blue Jays on Wednesday. He is expected to arrive in time to start Thursday. … Kansas City LHP Jeff Francis (4-14) faces Toronto LHP Brett Cecil (4-6) in Thursday’s series finale.

KANSAS CITY - Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland knew there needed to be a shakeup to help his struggling pitching staff. So far, the results have been positive since Jeff Jones was promoted to pitching coach.

Making his second career start, rookie Charlie Furbush will try to pitch the Detroit Tigers to a fourth straight win overall and fifth in a row over the reeling Kansas City Royals on Saturday night at Kauffman Stadium.

With his club’s ERA at 4.39, Leyland, along with team president Dave Dombrowski, decided that something needed to be done and the team fired pitching coach Rick Knapp following Sunday’s 6-3 win over San Francisco.

In the five games since Jones has moved from bullpen coach into his new role, Detroit’s ERA is 2.72 with the team allowing three earned runs in the first two games of this series.

Rick Porcello gave up three runs – one earned – in Friday’s 6-4 victory that pulled the Tigers (48-42) within one-half game of AL Central-leading Cleveland.

Furbush (1-2, 3.08 ERA), who replaced left-hander Phil Coke in the rotation, will try to help Detroit win four in a row for the first time since June 4-7.

Making his first career start the day after Jones started his new job, Furbush lasted 4 2-3 innings in Monday’s 5-1 road loss to the Los Angeles Angels. The left-hander yielded five hits and three runs after making his first 12 appearances out of the bullpen.

“He’s got a lot of stuff moving,” Jones said after Furbush struck out five and threw 45 of his 65 pitches for strikes. “He creates a lot of deception with what he has going.”

Furbush gets his first look at the AL-worst Royals (36-53), who are batting .194 with six total runs during their four-game losing streak to Detroit.

Kansas City, loser of 12 of 16 at home, is expected to give the ball to Luke Hochevar (5-8, 5.17), who went 4 1-3 innings in Sunday’s 16-8 win at Colorado. The right-hander left early with lower back pain in his right side after sliding into second base in the fourth inning.

“It was just a little tougher to get down through my pitches,” Hochevar told the Royals’ official website following his shortest outing of 2011. “But still, that’s not an excuse. I can still get through a situation like that.”

Hochevar is 1-1 with a 4.15 ERA in two starts against Detroit this season, with both coming on the road.

Miguel Cabrera is 4 for 30 over the last nine games, but the Tigers All-Star first baseman is batting .478 (11 for 23) with two homers off Hochevar. It is Cabrera’s highest batting average against any pitcher he’s faced at least 23 times.

Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta, named as an All-Star replacement Friday, has just five hits in 20 at-bats off Hochevar, yet two of those were doubles and three left the park.

Royals left fielder Alex Gordon is batting .345 (10 for 29) while hitting safely in all seven games in this divisional matchup in 2011.

Kansas City’s Melky Cabrera is 15 for 31 with two homers and six RBIs during a seven-game hitting streak.
Copyright 2011 by STATS LLC and The Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and The Associated Press is strictly prohibited.

CBSSports.com wire reports
June 9, 2011

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After a long, tough homestand, Jeff Francoeur is ready to hit the road.

With Francoeur driving in two runs and Luke Hochevar pitching seven effective innings, the Kansas City Royals ended their longest stretch of home games Thursday with a 3-2 victory against the Toronto Blue Jays. It was only their fourth victory in the 11-game stand at Kauffman Stadium.

Now the Royals will open a nine-game trip Friday night against the Angels.

“Maybe this will be good for us, to kind of get out on the road for a while and get away,” Francoeur said. “The homestand started out great, went sour, and then we finished on a nice, positive note.”

Hochevar (4-6) won for the first time in seven starts and the Royals survived Joakim Soria’s shaky ninth to split the four-game series with Toronto.

Soria, reclaiming the closer role he lost May 30 after back-to-back blown saves, loaded the bases in the ninth but got his eighth save in 13 opportunities.

“It’s never easy,” Soria said. “The last couple outings, I was pitching good. This was a tough one. We got the win, That’s all that matters.”

In a move that’s certain to have fans stirring, the Royals announced after the game they were bringing up third baseman Mike Moustakas, their 2007 first-round draft pick, and letting him make his much-anticipated major league debut against the Angels. He’ll also be reunited with first baseman Eric Hosmer, the 2008 first-round pick who was brought up on May 6 and has been the Royals’ best hitter.

“I’m really excited. One of my best friends in professional baseball,” Hosmer said. “It’s going to be fun. We’ve been texting back and forth.”

Edwin Encarnacion and Juan Rivera hit one-out singles off Soria, a two-time All-Star, then Mike McCoy, after being down 0-2, drew his fourth walk of the day to load the bases with two outs. But Soria got Corey Patterson on an infield popup, giving the Royals their fifth victory in 19 games.

Hochevar allowed two runs in the fourth but nothing else in seven innings. The right-hander gave up six hits, walked three and struck out three for his first victory in seven starts since May 1.

“You never want to go through those stretches,” Hochevar said. “Sometimes they happen. You’ve just got to battle through them and stay positive and continue to pound the strike zone and do what you do.”

Ricky Romero (5-6) pitched an eight-inning complete game for Toronto, allowing three runs on eight hits, with two walks and four strikeouts.

“I hate losing, bottom line, if I got beat by 10 runs or one run,” Romero said. “I’m a competitor. I have heart. I take a lot of pride in that. I hate losing. It’s unfortunate we lost. It stinks.”

Alcides Escobar singled in the third and scored the first run on Hosmer’s soft single into right. Hosmer has hit safely in 10 of his past 11 games.

Melky Cabrera then reached on a fielder’s choice and Francoeur rifled a two-run single into right as the Royals kept the Blue Jays from winning a series in Kansas City for the first time since 2003.

Francoeur was out at the plate on a strong throw from Jose Bautista after Billy Butler singled into right.

In the Blue Jays’ second, Bautista reached on a fielder’s choice, Adam Lind singled and J.P. Arencibia tripled into left field. Mitch Maier made a leap for the ball, but it hit the wall and bounced back toward center field as Lind and Bautista scored.

Aaron Hill walked, but Hochevar retired Encarnacion on a fly ball to end the inning.

The Blue Jays had runners at second and third with two out in the eighth. but Aaron Crow coaxed a grounder out of Arencibia.

Lind was 3 for 4, all singles.

Notes

• Infielder Mike Aviles is going down to Omaha.
• Toronto’s Jose Bautista has reached safely in 52 of his 55 games.
• Maier started in left field and led off for the Royals for the first time this year.
• Royals have played 16 games in a stretch of 20 days.
• Aviles was caught too far off first base in the second inning and thrown out by Romero.
• A victory would have put Toronto three games over .500 for the first time since April 8.

By Matthew Hays

– Staff Writer

Follow , and

Like SB Nation Kansas City on Facebook.

Jun 6, 2011 – For the first time in franchise history the Royals had the first overall choice in the 2006 draft. They would ultimately use that pick on Luke Hochevar, who at the time was pitching for the Ft. Worth Cats of the independent league American Association. Hochevar has previously been chosen by the Dodgers in the first round of the 2005 draft, but didn’t sign coming out of the University of Tennessee. While Hochevar was a solid pitcher in college, he has been subpar overall; and the Royals would have been better suited taking Evan Longoria or Tim Lincecum who have both developed into stars. Clayton Kershaw is another pitcher who would have been a viable option as the first pick, looking at everything in retrospect.

As a whole, four players from the Kansas City draft in 2006 have made the big leagues; in Hochevar, third round pick Blake Wood, 12^th rounder Everett Teaford, and 50^th rounder Jarrod Dyson. Remember this was the last draft of the Allard Baird era, a time in which Kansas City was known across baseball for drafting players they knew could be offered minimal money and sign. The development of the minor league system didn’t begin as we know it today until the following year when new General Manager Dayton Moore ran his first draft.

This will be painful, but let’s take a look back at whole the Royals selected, followed by notable players taken later in the round who would have been a better suited selection-

1.       Luke Hochevar –  P Tennessee (Evan Longoria, Tim Lincecum, Clayton Kershaw)

2.       Jason Taylor – SS Kellam HS (VA) (Trevor Cahill)

3.       Blake Wood – P Georgia Tech (Zach Britton)

4.       Derrick Robinson – OF Yonge HS (FL) (Chris Johnson)

5.       Jason Goldin – P Old Dominion (Nathan Adcock, Scott Sizemore)

6.       Harold Mozino – P Virginia Commonwealth (Andrew Bailey)

7.       Brett Bigler – OF UC-Riverside (Doug Fister)

8.       Josh Cribb – P Clemson (Allen Craig)

9.       Marc Maddox – 2B Southern Miss (David Freese)

10.   Nick Van Stratten – OF St Louis-Meramec CC (Desmond Jennings)

11.   Tyler Chambliss – P Florida State (Mat Latos)

12.   Everett Teaford – P Georgia Southern (Teaford or John Walden were the best selections)

13.   Kurt Mertins –  2B College of the Desert (Dan Murphy)

14.   Daniel Best – P Southern Miss

15.   Nick Francis – OF Pensacola JC (Lance Zawadzki)

16.   Tyrone Wilson – SS Southern Durham HS (NC)

17.   Matthew Morizio – C Northeastern (Chris Heisey)

18.   Chase Larsson – OF Kitsilano School (Canada)

19.   Jeff Inman – P Garces Memorial HS (CA) (Josh Tomlin)

20.   Brad Boxberger – P Foothill HS (CA) (Dominic Brown)

21.   Burke Baldwin – P Elgin CC

22.   Romas Hicks – P Georgia State

23.   Aaron Hartsock – P California Baptist

24.   Tyler Moyneur – C Arizona Western JC

25.   Rafael Valenzuela – SS Nogales HS (AZ) (Derek Holland)

26.   Darrell Lockett – OF Weatherford HS (TX)

27.   Colby Killian – P Warren County HS (TN)

28.   Michael Wheeler – OF Walters State CC

29.   Steve Rinaudo – SS American River College

30.   Tyler Pearson – P University of Northern Colorado

31.   Brandon Lance – C New Mexico State

32.   Fernando Garcia – 2B Colegio de le Inmaculada (Puerto Rico)

33.   Harold Smith – OF Palmetto HS (FL)

34.   Jarrod Grace – 1B Pensacola JC

35.   Anthony Stovall – P Kailua HS (HI)

36.   Manuel Garcia – P Cochise County CC

37.   Kaleb Harst – C St. Thomas More HS (LA)

38.   Michael Dabbs – OF Cowley County CC

39.   Steven Moore – P Thomasville HS (GA)

40.   Chris Snipes – L Warner Robbins HS (GA)

41.   Jeremy Toole – P Huntsville HS (TX)

42.   Todd McBride – OF The Dalles HS (OR)

43.   Brennan Thorpe – P Saddleback College

44.   Bryan Paukovits – P Southwestern CC

45.   Eric Martinez – P Southwestern CC

46.   Chase Lehr – P Centennial HS (AZ)

47.   Ryan Cisterna – C Chandler-Gilbert CC

48.   Colby Ho – 3B Kasier HS (HI

49.   Rocky Gale – C North Salem HS (OR)

50.   Jarrod Dyson – OF Southwest Mississippi CC

There were many others who made the major leagues obviously out of the draft, but the players from other teams that I have included are players that likely would be currently helping the Royals. It’s always easier to look back and grade a draft many years after the fact, but for so many years the Royals seemingly never hit on draft picks in the early rounds.  For the better part of 15 years Kansas City has had top 10 selections, and few of those have panned out. 2006 was a perfect example, as the top five rounds provided many solid major league players, but the only player to make it for the Royals have been Luke Hochevar and Blake Wood. To this point, both have been disappointments.  Hochevar has the skillset to be a solid major leaguer, but like we have seen this year he will string together five good innings and have a blow up inning in nearly each game.

As Kansas City looks ahead to the 2011 Major League Draft this week, let’s all hope that Kansas City has put such problems in the past, and we can continue to fill the minor league system like Dayton Moore has shown in recent years. As fans, our team is on the road to recovery, but we still haven’t climbed the mountain enough to the point that the Royals are a competitive major league team.

Read More: Tim Lincecum (P – SFG), Luke Hochevar (P – KAN), Evan Longoria (3B – TAM), Scott Sizemore (2B – OAK), Chris Heisey (LF – CIN), David Freese (3B – STL), Clayton Kershaw (P – LOS), Chris Johnson (3B – HOU), Marc Maddox (2B – KAN), Allen Craig (LF – STL), Andrew Bailey (P – OAK), Trevor Cahill (P – OAK), Derrick Robinson (CF – KAN), Derek Holland (P – TEX), Mat Latos (P – SDP), Doug Fister (P – SEA), Desmond Jennings (CF – TAM), Blake Wood (P – KAN), Jarrod Dyson (CF – KAN), Lance Zawadzki (2B – KAN), Kurt Mertins (2B – KAN), Nick Van Stratten (LF – KAN), Josh Tomlin (P – CLE), Zach Britton (P – BAL), Everett Teaford (P – KAN), Nathan Adcock (P – KAN), Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Dodgers

Follow , and

Like SB Nation Kansas City on Facebook.

Do you like this story?