• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Grudzielanek leads Royals in rout of Phillies

Jun 10, 2007 - 11:38 PM KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- A relentless offensive attack carried the Kansas City Royals to a 17-5 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday.

The Royals set a season high in runs, reaching double figures for the first time since May 23, as they won the rubber game of the interleague series.

Mark Grudzielanek tied a career-high with five RBI to lead a 14-hit Kansas City attack.

"I think we were taking out a little frustration coming from yesterday," Grudzielanek said, referring to the three-hit shutout by Jon Lieber on Saturday. "All year offensively we've been trying to get into a groove. Hopefully this will get us going."

"We did a lot of things offensively we haven't done in a while," Royals manager Buddy Bell said. "We got some home runs, got some bunts down. We did just about everything perfect offensively, and the bullpen was outstanding again today."

Zack Greinke (3-4) pitched two innings of scoreless relief, fanning five, to get his second victory out of the bullpen.

"Zack's job was key," Bell said. "He kept the momentum on our side."

Neither starting pitcher made it out of the fourth inning. Kansas City's Jorge De La Rosa allowed five hits and three runs in 3 2/3 innings, walking four and striking out four. De La Rosa struggled with the strike zone all day, going to a three-ball count on seven of the 19 hitters he faced.

"Obviously, he struggled with his control," Bell said. "His pitch count was way up early and he wasn't going to get much past the fourth anyway."

Philadelphia's Jamie Moyer (5-5) gave up seven hits and six runs in 3 2/3 innings, walking two and striking out two.

"I didn't throw the ball well today," Moyer said. "I stunk. What can you say. I didn't feel like I got into my type of rhythm that I needed to get into. They took advantage of it."

After Grudzielanek gave the Royals a first-inning lead with an RBI double, Tony Pena Jr., connected for a solo homer in the second inning, his first round-tripper since April 26, 2006, putting the Royals ahead, 2-1.

"I got lucky," Pena said. "It felt great. We had a great day today and got the win. Moyer is always trying to keep you off-balance and we did a good job of staying patient and getting our pitches to hit."

"We're starting to get comfortable," Grudzielanek said. "I think we just need to relax a little. It's just a game. We need to have fun and enjoy this a bit more."

Shane Victorino quickly tied the game 2-2 by leading off the third inning with his fifth home run of the year.

Grudzielanek hit a one-out, two-run homer in the third to put Kansas City ahead, 4-2, a lead they would not surrender.

"It was a nice day, personally," Grudzielanek said. "It's even better when your teammates do well and we get a win. We were trying to be patient and get (Moyer) to leave a few pitches up and then put a good swing on them."

The Royals scored in all but one inning, getting single runs in the first and second and two each in the third and fourth to build a 6-3 lead and drive Moyer from the game.

"We did a good job of laying off bad pitches," Bell said. "We made him get the ball up and pitch deep into the count. We did a lot of really good things today."

Ryan Howard, who had struck out in five straight at-bats, hit a towering two-run homer into the right-field bullpen in the fifth to cut the lead to 6-5.

"When Howard homered, I felt like we still had a good chance to win the game," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "I think Greinke closed the gate. He stopped us, closed the game down. I think that definitely turned the game completely around and they kept adding on and we couldn't catch them."

Kansas City put the game away in the sixth as Grudzielanek drove in two with a bases-loaded single to right. Mike Sweeney followed with a ground-ball RBI single to center, stretching the Royals lead to 9-5.

"We definitely swung the bats well," Sweeney said. "It makes the game so much more enjoyable. We were thinking, late in the game that we'd like to take about seven runs off the board and save them for when Gil (Meche) pitches."

David DeJesus reached safely in five straight plate appearances and scored four runs. Ryan Shealy reached safely in four straight plate appearances and scored three runs.

"It's a crazy game," Shealy said. "We'd love to have had some of those balls fall in yesterday when we couldn't buy a break. We are trying, as an offense, to be as consistent as we can. The big thing is we won a series and we haven't been playing well at home."