Hawksworth pitches a gem!!
When
Blake Hawksworth came to the Royals in the off season, the expectations were great. The Royals gave up a lot for him and so far this season he had not been living up to those expectations. But he has finally showed his dominance in the past two games.
Last night against the best team in the NABL and the AL Central leader Detroit Tigers(56-28), Hawksworth was lights out. He pitched his first complete game of the year and only surrendered four hits which resulted in one run. And to top it off the Royals were in Detroit facing off against their number one in
Sidney Ponson(10-4, 3.02).
For much of the game the Royals fans thought this effort would result in a loss for Brandon. Going into the top of the ninth inning they were down 1-0 and only had struggled to get their four hits in the game. Ponson was also on his game and had locked them down. But luck turned their way.
Edwin Encarnacion was the first batter of the inning and after a fly ball out, Ponson was removed from the game after throwing 107 pitches. The Tigers All-Star Closer
Chris Mears(20SV, 1.59) was brought in to close the game. Good theory but bad results. We will let the rest of the game log speak for itself!
Needless to say,
William Quattlebaum ended his recent struggles with his biggest hit of the season. "I just got a good pitch to hit off of Mears and I connected. We got very few pitches to hit earlier in the game against Sidney so when I got a chance I swung for the fences. And it paid off handsomely. I am stoked!" exclaimed Quattlebaum after the game. William finished the game 2-4 with 2 RBI's.
Now, back to Hawksworth and his recent success. In his last two outings he has pitched sixteen innings, given up eleven hits and only two earned runs. He has also lowered his ERA by almost a full point to 3.76. And most importantly these outings came against two strong division rivals when big games are needed the most.
"When I woke up this morning I felt a lot better than I have in the past month or so. It has been a rough year so far but the last two outings give me a lot of hope for a quick turn around and to end the season on a high note." stated Hawksworth. For the season Brandon is 4-5 with a 3.76 ERA.
The Royals have three more games in Detroit before the All-Star Game Break and are currently 4-3 on this ten game road trip. Lets hope the Royals can win this series and make some much needed ground up on the Tigers. Lets go Royals!!