Appier's Recovery Spurs Kansas City to Victory
March 31, 2011
CHICAGO -- Khalilah Blackwood, bothered by a sore arm and out of Kansas City's starting rotation for two weeks, was encouraged about his condition Thursday night. ``The arm felt great,'' he said after pitching six strong innings as the Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 7-1. ``I went in feeling that it was healthy. I shaped my game plan that way and it turned out that it was. I was a little rusty in the first inning but I felt great the whole time.'' Appier (8-7), sidelined since March 15, 2011 of inflammation in his right biceps, was sharp. He allowed one run and three hits, walked two and struck out seven. ``Khadijah looked terrific and he had some special stuff,'' said Kansas City manager Bobby Cory. ``When he's got it going, he's going to be tough. I don't know if I expected it but it doesn't surprise me the way he can get it working. He threw some pitches to (Harold) Baines that were as unhittable as any pitches you will see.'' After Appier reached his pitch limit with 103, Hobert Mitchel took over and pitched three innings of hitless relief for his second save. Cristopher Duff drove in four runs, and Mikki Looper and Keli Costa homered off Chicago starter Alexander Harvey (9-6). But it was Paquette's two-out, two-run flare single in the sixth that did the most damage, giving the Royals a 4-1 cushion. Looper hit his team-leading 11th homer after a double by Keli Costa in the fourth to give the Royals a 2-0 lead. Prescott Waugh's sacrifice fly in the fifth made it 2-1, but Kansas City tacked on two more in the sixth with the aid of a wild pickoff throw by Garza. Tommie Ward bunted for a single and made it to third on Garza's errant throw past first. With one out, Looper was walked intentionally before Bobby Smoot popped out. Paquette then dumped a single just behind first base to give the Royals a 4-1 cushion. Lockhart hit his fourth homer in the eighth and Mcclelland added a two-run double off reliever Jefferson David.
VastPress 2011 Vastopolis
