Royals finally win consecutive road games

Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO -- Buddy Bell wanted to use this interleague series to seriously evaluate his new team -- and thanks to the skipper's early exit, he really got to sit back and watch.

Tony Graffanino tripled, drove in a run and scored twice and Matt Diaz added two RBIs in the Kansas City Royals' 4-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night.

Runelvys Hernandez (3-7) pitched six strong innings despite a light drizzle for most of the game and the Royals won consecutive road games for the first time since April 30-May 1 at Cleveland.

They improved to 6-2 under Bell, but won this one without him.

''It's a lot tougher watching on TV than actually down on the field,'' Bell said.

He was ejected in the first inning by first-base umpire Rick Reed, the crew chief, after arguing a checked swing by San Francisco's Moises Alou. After being thrown out, Bell came out to first base and hollered at Reed for several minutes before exiting.

It was Bell's first ejection -- it came in Game 8 of his Royals tenure -- since taking over the team May 31, three weeks after Tony Pena resigned.

While bench coach Bob Schaefer directed the team, Bell watched from his office in the clubhouse. He liked what he saw from the defense -- the Royals turned double plays in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.

''We really played well defensively,'' Bell said. ''I would have preferred to be down there on the bench, but Schaef did a great job.''

Kansas City hit an SBC Park-record three triples to help snap a nine-game road losing streak with Tuesday's 8-1 win. The Royals added two more triples Wednesday. Ruben Gotay had the other, while Angel Berroa and David DeJesus each had two hits.

''When you don't try to do too much, everything is going to be fine,'' Berroa said.

The Giants got two hits off Jeremy Affeldt in the eighth, but Alou grounded into an inning-ending double play. Mike MacDougal pitched the ninth for his sixth save in eight chances.

Ray Durham homered in the fourth for the Giants, who have lost 11 of 12 overall and six in a row at home. Durham's solo shot into the right-field arcade was his second homer of the season and just the second hit allowed by Hernandez.

And the Giants couldn't do much else against the right-hander, who won for the first time since May 15. Hernandez faced the minimum in the second, fifth and sixth innings. He allowed four hits, struck out three and walked four. The Royals staked him to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a double by Diaz and a wild pitch by Giants starter Jeff Fassero.

''I want to say thank you to the team for the support they gave me,'' Hernandez said. ''The weather was a little chilly. It was a struggle. I'm a power pitcher. I tried to make adjustments to get groundballs.''

Fassero (1-3) made his fourth spot start of the season and first since beating Oakland 3-2 on May 21. Fassero rejoined the rotation after the Giants optioned Brad Hennessey to Triple-A Fresno after last Thursday's loss at Philadelphia.

Fassero threw 54 pitches through the first two innings, then got out of the third on five pitches. He gave up four runs and six hits in five innings, walked three and struck out one.

''I needed to go out and throw zeros in the first inning and I didn't,'' he said. ''It's demoralizing to hitters to be down 2-0. We've been struggling all year long. We've been fortunate to win games we have. Nothing's gone right. There's enough talent in this clubhouse to win.''

It was his first start against the Royals since Aug. 25, 2000, while with Boston.

Pedro Feliz batted in the fifth spot for San Francisco and went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. He also hit into a double play.

''I hope he's not pressing, because he is playing regularly,'' manager Felipe Alou said. ''He has more at-bats than anybody. Usually, the pressing comes from the fear of losing your job, but that is not a factor.''

Notes: San Francisco SS Omar Vizquel missed his second straight game after having his lower right wisdom tooth extracted Monday ... Giants slugger Barry Bonds is progressing in three key areas of his rehabilitation on his surgically repaired right knee, though there is still no timetable for when he will resume his chase of the home run record. Bonds will be examined Sunday by Dr. Robert Armstrong, and trainer Stan Conte expects Bonds will be off antibiotics sometime next week ... Royals INF Mike Sweeney was held out of the lineup as a precaution as he nurses his tender side. Bell had planned to give Sweeney the day off Thursday, but opted to do so Wednesday instead because of the wet weather. Sweeney might not play Thursday's day game either.