SEATTLE -- Sunday's 4-1 win over the Mariners presented a situation where Royals reliever Luke Hochevar might have been called upon to help protect a lead, but manager Ned Yost said Hochevar has "a little bit of tightness" in his right elbow and was not available.
Left-hander Danny Duffy got the ball in the sixth inning after starter Ian Kennedy had loaded the bases with none out. Duffy got out of the jam having allowed only one of Kennedy's runs to score as the Royals snapped their five-game skid.
"Out of precaution, we wanted to give [Hochevar] the day [off], and we'll see how he feels tomorrow," Yost said. "We weren't going to use him today."
Yost said Hochevar, one of the Royals' valuable setup men, who missed all of 2014 because of Tommy John surgery, felt the tightness in the elbow after his one-inning, two-walk appearance in Friday night's 1-0 loss in the series opener.
Yost did not seem to think that it was anything more than a day-to-day situation.