KC Royals starter Luke Hochevar finally pitched the way people had hoped this season. Despite walking four, he got into the 8th inning and dominated the Houston Astros. The Royals held on for the 2-0 win.

The Royals got on the board against Astros starter Wandy Rodriguez in the very first inning on Billy Butler‘s solo homerun (his 13th of the season). The Royals tacked on another run in the 3rd inning on Alcides Escobar‘s two-out RBI single.

Hochevar worked into and out of trouble the entire game, but didn’t throw more than 100 pitches. He got the strikeout when he needed (six) and the ground outs when he needed them (11).

Hochevar got into trouble in the 8th inning with two outs and the tying run on second base. That brought a pitching change and in came reliever Aaron Crow. He struck out Justin Maxwell to end the inning.

The 9th inning started with a leadoff walk issued by Royals closer Jonathan Broxton. However he got Chris Johnson to pop up on the very next pitch. Broxton then retired the next two in order to complete the shutout.

On offense, Butler and Escobar had two hits each.

*For more on the Astros, check out Tales from the Juice Box.