The Royals desperately needed a win Tuesday night and they got exactly that as Jeff Francis overcame a rough first inning to pitch seven strong innings in a 7-3 victory over the Angels.
The Angels got going early against Francis, scoring twice in the first inning on RBI singles by Alberto Callaspo and Mark Trumbo. Francis threw 35 pitches in the inning, and it made you wonder if Kansas City would have to use their bullpen once again earlier than manager Ned Yost would have liked.
But Francis finished strong, not allowing another run until the sixth after the Royals were able to take the lead. Francis finished the game with seven innings pitched, giving up three runs on eight hits. His outing was stretched to 114 pitches.
Kansas City got on the board five times in the bottom of the third inning to take a 5-2 lead, benefiting from a crucial error by Angels starting pitcher Joel Pineiro. After Chris Getz reached base on a one-out bunt single, Alcides Escobar grounded back up the middle to Pineiro who tried to get Getz out at second but the throw was wild into center field. The extra out and baserunner allowed the top of the hitting order to the opportunity to get four more hits. Eric Hosmer's two-run double highlighted the inning.
Hosmer finished 2-for-4 with 2 RBI, while Getz and Alex Gordon were each 3-for-4 at the plate.
To offset the run the Angels scored in the sixth, Kansas City scored a run in both the fifth and seventh innings on RBI's be Jeff Francoeur.
Blake Wood pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth innings as the Royals picked up the victory to improve to 24-30, while the Angels are 29-28. 18 of the 24 Kansas City wins on the season have now come at home.
Francis improved to 2-5 on the season, while Pineiro fell to 2-2.
The Royals look to take the series tomorrow afternoon at 3:10 when Felipe Paulino (0-4 5.68 ERA) makes his starting debut for the Royals against Tyler Chatwood (3-2 4.13). Tuesday's boxscore can been seen here.