You might be able to pencil in Robinson Tejada as a Royals starter for 2010.  Tejada pitched six scoreless innings and struck out eight as the Royals beat the Tigers again 5-1.  In two major league starts, Tejada’s pitched 11.1 innings with no runs allowed.

Tejada’s teammates said after the game, that there is no doubt Tejada has the stuff to become a good pitcher in the majors and certainly the potential to turn into a good starter if he can control his pitches.  Last night he had it working against Detroit.  He was topping out on his fastball at 97 mph.

He allowed just three hits while walking two.  Tejada got an RBI single from Mike Jacobs in the fifth to leave with the lead.  The Royals scored another in the seventh and put the game out of reach in the eighth with three runs.

Detroit’s Justin Verlander put up nearly the exact same line as Tejada in six innings, but ended up taking the loss to fall to 16-8.   Billy Butler drove in two more runs and went 3 for 5.  In Butler’s last five games, he’s 13 of 20 hitting .650 with six extra base hits including two homers and 9 RBI.  This coming against first place teams in Detroit and LA.