Reserve Infielder Solves Royals’ Pitching Problems
After seeing the Detroit Tigers put up 19 runs through eight innings of play against Luke Hochevar, Robinson Tejeda, Jimmy Gobble and Leo Nunez - all guys listed with the word “Pitcher” next to their name in the Kansas City Royals’ media guide - manager Trey Hillman decided to go in a different direction in the ninth inning.
Trailing 19-4, Hillman must have wanted to save the arms of a pitching staff with a collective ERA of 4.68 (2nd worst in the AL) for a more meaningful game - like “Dodge Buck Night” on August 8th against the Minnesota Twins, where hot dogs, peanuts and soft drinks are just a $1 each. (In this struggling economy, that’s a meaningful game even if the Royals are 11 games back.)
With very few options remaining, the manager turned to reserve infielder Tony Pena Jr. to follow up Gobble’s 10-run debacle in the eighth to close out the game.
