Hosmer hits KO shot in 3rd round vs. Weaver
KANSAS CITY -- Eric Hosmer said he wasn't trying to hit a home run with Lorenzo Cain on second in a decisive sixth inning that propelled the Royals to a 4-1 series-evening win over the Angels on Friday night.
"There's a guy on second base there and I'm trying to get the ball to the right side and get him over," Hosmer said. "[Angels starter Jered Weaver] left one over the plate and I got a good swing on it."
Hosmer sure did. With the score tied, he belted one over the Angels' bullpen in right field -- projected by Statcast™ to land 410 feet away. That was Hosmer's 14th of the season and it put the Royals up to stay.
Video: KC@LAA: Hosmer snaps tie with two-run shot to right
Hosmer had not had good swings against Weaver -- he hit two soft flyouts in his first two at-bats.
"He's a guy that can throw any pitch any time for a strike," Hosmer said. "So you just have to stay calm and anticipate your pitch. You just stay through the middle."
Actually, none of the Royals had very good swings against Weaver until the sixth.
"He throws 67 to 85 [mph]," manager Ned Yost said. "Just the variations in speeds. The changeup, the curveball, the fastball, plus he's got really, really good command. He commands it. Just the deception and the speed on the pitches, it's just tough to hit.
"He's got an 85-mph fastball and he's got like a 74-mph changeup, but the arm speed's the same. So you're reading fastball out of his hand and it's a changeup. Curveball, super slow. It's hard to sit back even though Hoz sat back and put one in the seats. He's tough to hit."