Kansas City did nearly everything right for the first eight innings in Baltimore on Tuesday evening, but the bullpen couldn't hold as the Orioles came back from a 3-2 deficit heading into the bottom of the ninth to pick up the victory.
Joakim Soria allowed the tying run to score in the bottom of the ninth, via a Felix Pie double. Soria has three blown saves this season, matching his total for all of 2010. Adam Jones then connected on an 0-2 pitch with two outs taking it to center for his sixth home run of the season, the game winner. Soria fell to 3-1 on the season, while Alfredo Simon picked up the win in relief, improving to 1-0.
Kansas City had a 3-0 lead through 5 1/2 innings, as Alex Gordon, Jeff Francoeur, and Billy Butler each had two hits and an RBI on the evening. Gordon his his fifth home run of the season in the third inning. Melky Cabrera also contributed two hits to an 11-hit evening for the Royals.
With the win, Baltimore improves to 22-24, while Kansas City falls to 22-25. Danny Duffy lost the chance to pick up his first major league win as he pitched 5.1 innings, giving up two runs on five hits. Duffy's stuff looked dominant at times, striking out six Oriole batters.
Soria's ERA now is 5.12, while Aaron Crow's sits at 0.76. The questions have started to become louder around Soria's issues this season. At first it was stated he was struggling because it was cold, but the same concerns are there now that the weather has warmed.
The full boxscore from Tuesday can be accessed here.
Luke Hochevar (3-4 4.36 ERA) heads to the mound tomorrow facing Jake Arrieta (5-2 4.75), as Kansas City looks to end a three game losing streak. Tomorrow's game being at 6:05 CST, and can be viewed on Fox Sports Kansas City.