Lima baffles former mates to notch win
KANSAS CITY -- Jose Lima exulted on the mound. He raced toward the Royals' dugout and leaped over the baseline in a single bound. Then he ripped the air with his fist as the crowd of 21,024 filled Kauffman Stadium with a roar.
Yes, Lima Time was ticking again with a fury.
Lima's leap came after he struck out Jayson Werth to end the eighth inning Wednesday night, sending the Royals to a 3-1 victory over the Dodgers.
Lima simply was a man on a mission against his former team. He stared into their dugout with venom in his eyes. He relished every out. With his outlandishly blond-dyed hair and his outrageously pugnacious behavior, he was ready to compete.
"The madder they are at me, the more chance I have to beat them," he said. "I was pumped up, doing my thing, jumping the line and it went my way."
It sure did. In his 14th start this season, he finally had his first victory. Before Wednesday night, you could tell Lima Time with a sundial.
But the Dodgers were the outfit that snubbed him last winter after he'd posted a 13-5 record and shut out the Cardinals in the playoffs.
"I was a little upset because I didn't get a phone call in the offseason after what I did for them," Lima said.
So Lima extracted revenge by holding the Dodgers to one run and five singles in his eight innings, walking one. He might have had a shutout still intact if first baseman Mike Sweeney hadn't been involved in a fourth-inning collision.
Sweeney, reaching for a throw, suffered a sprained left wrist and elbow when his glove and Werth came together at first base. While Sweeney went down, Werth wound up at second base after third baseman Mark Teahen was charged with a throwing error. Werth scored on Jeff Kent's single.
The hanging slider to Kent was classified by Lima as his only mistake.
"I'm lucky he didn't hit a home run, because it was up in the zone," Lima said.
The win was the Royals' fourth straight, including two tight victories over the Dodgers.
"It was similar to last night's game, except that it was Jose's first win, which is huge for us, obviously," manager Buddy Bell said.
The Royals got a run in the first inning off right-hander Brad Penny on Sweeney's double and, after a walk and a wild pitch, Emil Brown's two-bagger.
Jose Lima / P
Born: 09/30/72
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 205 lbs
Bats: R / Throws: R
More info:
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Kansas City struck for two more in the fifth on singles by Angel Berroa, David DeJesus, Matt Stairs and Brown. The two RBIs on the night by Brown gave him 13 in his last 12 games.
Lima gave up a leadoff single to Jason Grabowski in the fifth, then induced a double play. After that, he retired 10 of the next 11 batters.
Finally, Lima had avoided the one lousy inning that seemed to scuttle his efforts all season.
"In my heart, I was saying, 'Stay away from big innings, stay away from big innings,' and all night long that's what I did," he said.
Bell toyed with the idea of letting Lima pitch the ninth, but instead opted for closer Mike MacDougal. The right-hander reeled off a perfect inning for his eighth save.
"You like to stay away from the bullpen, but -- and maybe this is not very courageous on my part -- he didn't have a win yet and I thought the best chance we had was to bring 'Mac' in," Bell said.
The win gave Bell a 10-4 record since taking over as manager. Only Whitey Herzog had a better start for the Royals, going 11-3 in his first 14 games in 1975.
"We've been down in the dumps and now we're playing good baseball," catcher John Buck said.
And Lima put on a good show. After second baseman Ruben Gotay made a sparkling stop on Hee-Seop Choi's grounder in the seventh, Lima stood by the dugout and enthusiastically greeted every teammate coming off the field.
"It was a heck of a night," Bell said.
Source: http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/
Yes, Lima Time was ticking again with a fury.
Lima's leap came after he struck out Jayson Werth to end the eighth inning Wednesday night, sending the Royals to a 3-1 victory over the Dodgers.
Lima simply was a man on a mission against his former team. He stared into their dugout with venom in his eyes. He relished every out. With his outlandishly blond-dyed hair and his outrageously pugnacious behavior, he was ready to compete.
"The madder they are at me, the more chance I have to beat them," he said. "I was pumped up, doing my thing, jumping the line and it went my way."
It sure did. In his 14th start this season, he finally had his first victory. Before Wednesday night, you could tell Lima Time with a sundial.
But the Dodgers were the outfit that snubbed him last winter after he'd posted a 13-5 record and shut out the Cardinals in the playoffs.
"I was a little upset because I didn't get a phone call in the offseason after what I did for them," Lima said.
So Lima extracted revenge by holding the Dodgers to one run and five singles in his eight innings, walking one. He might have had a shutout still intact if first baseman Mike Sweeney hadn't been involved in a fourth-inning collision.
Sweeney, reaching for a throw, suffered a sprained left wrist and elbow when his glove and Werth came together at first base. While Sweeney went down, Werth wound up at second base after third baseman Mark Teahen was charged with a throwing error. Werth scored on Jeff Kent's single.
The hanging slider to Kent was classified by Lima as his only mistake.
"I'm lucky he didn't hit a home run, because it was up in the zone," Lima said.
The win was the Royals' fourth straight, including two tight victories over the Dodgers.
"It was similar to last night's game, except that it was Jose's first win, which is huge for us, obviously," manager Buddy Bell said.
The Royals got a run in the first inning off right-hander Brad Penny on Sweeney's double and, after a walk and a wild pitch, Emil Brown's two-bagger.
Jose Lima / P
Born: 09/30/72
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 205 lbs
Bats: R / Throws: R
More info:
Player page
Stats | Splits
Gallery
Team Site | Shop
Kansas City struck for two more in the fifth on singles by Angel Berroa, David DeJesus, Matt Stairs and Brown. The two RBIs on the night by Brown gave him 13 in his last 12 games.
Lima gave up a leadoff single to Jason Grabowski in the fifth, then induced a double play. After that, he retired 10 of the next 11 batters.
Finally, Lima had avoided the one lousy inning that seemed to scuttle his efforts all season.
"In my heart, I was saying, 'Stay away from big innings, stay away from big innings,' and all night long that's what I did," he said.
Bell toyed with the idea of letting Lima pitch the ninth, but instead opted for closer Mike MacDougal. The right-hander reeled off a perfect inning for his eighth save.
"You like to stay away from the bullpen, but -- and maybe this is not very courageous on my part -- he didn't have a win yet and I thought the best chance we had was to bring 'Mac' in," Bell said.
The win gave Bell a 10-4 record since taking over as manager. Only Whitey Herzog had a better start for the Royals, going 11-3 in his first 14 games in 1975.
"We've been down in the dumps and now we're playing good baseball," catcher John Buck said.
And Lima put on a good show. After second baseman Ruben Gotay made a sparkling stop on Hee-Seop Choi's grounder in the seventh, Lima stood by the dugout and enthusiastically greeted every teammate coming off the field.
"It was a heck of a night," Bell said.
Source: http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/
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