Mike Jacobs and Mark Teahen teed off on Kerry Wood fastballs and a run scoring triple by David DeJesus who then scored the game winning run on a sac fly from Willie Bloomquist completed the Royals comeback in a 6-5 win over Cleveland.
Indians starter Cliff Lee has dominated the Royals with a 12-5 record, but last year’s Cy Young Award winner had struggle a bit early on with a 2-5 record, although his ERA was under three. He continued to pitch well against the Royals allowing two runs on eight hits with no walks and three strikeouts in eight innings pitched.
He left the game with a 5-2 lead after Cleveland opened up a four run advantage on a two run, two out homer from Indians catcher Kelly Shoppach off Brian Bannister. Bannister held his own up until that sixth inning walking just one while giving up nine hits in six innings.
Kerry Wood blamed his 9th inning meltdown (which you’ll hear below) on his inability to throw a second pitch for strikes. That allowed Jacobs to time Wood’s fastball and for Teahen to watch from the on deck circle. That made the game 5-4, but the Royals had more work to do. Miguel Olivo drew a walk and Mitch Maier scored on DeJesus’ triple after he was called on to pinch run. The biggest hit came from Bloomquist whose flyout was deep enough to score DeJesus who tagged up for the winner.
Listen below to David DeJesus’ comments as well as those from Wood and Cliff Lee.