KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Luke Hochevar pitched neatly into the eighth inning Wednesday night, Billy Butler homered and drove in four runs and the Kansas City Royals beat the Orioles 6-2.
Hochevar (8-8), the first player picked in the 2006 draft, is 4-0 in his past seven starts and has matched the longest winning streak of his career. He also set a personal high for wins in a season, having gone 7-13 in 2009.
Hochevar allowed one earned run and four hits in 71â„3 innings. He struck out seven, walked one and retired 16 straight batters during one stretch.
Jeremy Guthrie (5-15) yielded six runs on eight hits in seven innings. He leads the majors in losses.
Hochevar gave up a run in the first when Adam Jones doubled with two outs and scored on Vladimir Guerrero's single, but did not allow another hit until the eighth.
Butler had a sacrifice fly in the first inning and hit a three-run homer in the seventh. His 13th homer came on a 3-0 pitch after Manny Pina doubled for his first big league hit and Alex Gordon singled.
Alcides Escobar's triple in the second scored Yamico Navarro and Chris Getz, putting the Royals up 3-1. Escobar and Gordon each contributed three hits.
The Orioles got unearned run in the third when Hochevar committed a throwing error on a pickoff attempt, allowing Robert Andino to advance to third. He scored on J.J. Hardy's sacrifice fly.
After Matt Wieters singled and Pie doubled in the eighth, Greg Holland replaced Hochevar. Holland hit Andino to load the bases with one out, but struck out Hardy and retired Nick Markakis on a ground out to end the inning.
Holland picked up his first career save in his second opportunity.
Notes: Royals manager Ned Yost said struggling rookie 3B Mike Moustakas would not be in the lineup Wednesday or today as he worked with hitting coach Kevin Seitzer on his stroke. Moustakas is hitting .194 with one home run in 41 games. "It's mechanical more than anything else," Yost said. "But he's pressing a little bit at the plate, trying to get results, which makes it worse." ... Pina, who was called up Sunday, made his big league debut and went 2-for-4. ... The Orioles optioned veteran LHP Mark Hendrickson, who was 1-0 with a 5.40 ERA in seven relief appearances, to Triple-A Norfolk. The move opened up a roster spot for LHP Jo-Jo Reyes, who joined the club after being claimed off waivers Monday from Toronto. The Orioles agreed to terms with RHP Willie Eyre pending a physical. Eyre would be assigned to Norfolk. Eyre, 33, is 5-6 with a 5.14 ERA in 92 big league games. ... Rookie LHP Zach Britton, who starts tonight for the Orioles, has struggled mightily in past two starts, losses to the Red Sox and Yankees.