Chicks Dig the Long Ball, Chicks Digging Visiting A's After 3 - 0 Win in Kansas City

So that happened.

Luke Hochevar was actually surprisingly effective. Granted, he gave up two home runs, but they weren't of the soul-crushing, eight-run shot variety he has a penchant for giving up. The first dong hung off of Luke Oplakia Hochevar didn't come until the sixth and was a solo shot from Covelli Crisp, which is certainly demoralizing on many levels, but it barely cleared the fence. The next inning saw Yoenis Cespedes knocking one into the seats for another solo dong.

It wouldn't be a Hochevar start unless Nedgar T. Yost left him in for one batter too long. This time that batter was the first to come to the plate in the eighth inning. Luke Oplakia came out to start the eighth despite the fact that he was already at nearly 100 pitches and promptly walked Derek Norris. Norris would come around to score the third Oakland run while Tim Collins was cleaning up. Hochevar finished with five strikeouts, three walks, four hits allowed, and three runs all of which were earned.

Of course, when Luke Hochevar is the highlighted player of the game, that doesn't tend to bode well for the Royals.

The Royals struggled to get base-runners against a pitcher making his third Major League start whose prospect star didn't really start to twinkle until he got to Double-A this year as a 23-year-old. That's not to say he might not be good, but if the Royals habitually do something well, it is making run-of-the-mill spot starters from the minors look good. They did load the bases twice, but Chris Getz came to the plate both times and successfully ended the Royals' rallies. Mistake Free left seven runners on base. Of course, yesterday he had the At-Bat of the Year, so whatever.

Just two good weeks.