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De La Rosa upstages Verlander as Royals beat Tigers

Apr 7, 2007 - 6:21 AM KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- Jorge De La Rosa didn't like the elements or Justin Verlander get in his way.

De La Rosa matched the 2006 American League Rookie of the Year pitch for pitch and Tony Pena Jr. hit a go-ahead triple as the Kansas City Royals posted a 3-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

Verlander allowed one unearned run and two hits in just six innings, but De La Rosa (1-0) was equally impressive, allowing one run and four hits in a career-high seven innings with five strikeouts.

"I mixed all my pitches," De La Rosa said. "I threw a lot of fastballs in the first three and four innings. After that I used a lot of my changeups. I think I threw good today. I have to stay focused every game."

"It was a cat and mouse game," Kansas City Jason LaRue said. "Early on he threw a lot of fastballs and they put the ball in play. When I thought they were looking for a first pitch fastball. I'd call a curveball or change up."

De La Rosa, a lefthander who turned 26 on Thursday, went 3-4 with a 5.18 ERA in 48 2/3 innings last season after being acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers in a trade. The native of Mexico said it was so cold that his hands were numb. It was 31 degrees with a wind-chill of 23 degrees late in the game.

"That might have been the most miserable night I've ever spent in baseball," Royals manager Buddy Bell said. "It was not only very cold, but the wind that really gets to you. I thought De La Rosa's command and Verlander's command was better than I thought it was going to be because of the weather conditions. De La Rosa was as good as it gets.

After Verlander departed in a 1-1 tie, Pena tripled off Jose Mesa (0-1) in the seventh, scoring LaRue who led off with a single. Pena scored on a bloop single by David DeJesus that made the score 3-1.

"I thought I had good control most of the time," Verlander said. "The walks, a couple could have gone either way. ... Had I not, I might have gone longer in the game."

Joakim Soria pitched the eighth inning and David Riske pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save for Kansas City, which has split its first four games.

DeJesus gave the Royals a first-inning lead with an opposite-field triple and scored on a groundout by Mark Grudzielanek.

Craig Monroe tied the game in the second with an RBI single that plated Carlos Guillen.