Omaha Bullpen Melts Downs after Hochevar Deals Eight Scoreless

After working eight scoreless innings which included a season-high nine strikeouts, Omaha ace Luke Hochevar appeared to be on his way to a perfect 6-0 record.

The reigning pitcher of the week in the Pacific Coast League quickly fanned five of the first six batters in the Redbirds' lineup and retired 16 of the 17 Memphis batters he faced during a 4 1/3 innings stretch that included the final out in the third inning and innings four through seven.

Hochevar allowed just five hits on the night, all singles, and saw his earned run average drop to a league-leading 0.90.

Greg Atencio came in to work the ninth inning in relief of Hochevar and after allowing a lead-off single, he struck out the next two batters to come within one out from earning his first save of the season.

But the 2-0 lead the Omaha Royals had built just one inning earlier quickly faded. And just like it had the night before, Omaha's two-run lead was erased. With two outs and two men on base, Atencio was sent to the bench in favor of Tim Hamulack who surrendered back-to-back RBI singles to knot the game a two.

Roman Colon came in to record the final out in the ninth inning without any further damage, but Hochevar's bid for a sixth straight had already been denied and there was nothing he could do about it. "

Colon was tagged with the loss after allowing Memphis to take a 3-2 lead on its only extra-base hit of the game in the 10th with one out and a runner already on base.

It's unlikely Hochevar will continue to deliver such spectacular performances for Triple-A crowds much longer. He'll likely be MLB-bound on a more permanent trip to Kansas City sometime soon where he will hopefully garner better support from his bullpen.

The Kansas City Royals already boast the best team ERA in the Majors and the addition of Hochevar is merely a matter of time.

"I can't sidestep what everybody seems to be talking about and that's the performance of Luke Hochevar," said Kansas City manager Trey Hillman in a recent interview. "I'm thrilled for Luke and I hope at some point in time we do get to see Luke, but I hope it's not because somebody's not performing or we have an injury."

KC has already enjoyed the addition of Brian Bannister to its rotation. The 28-year-old made three appearances for Omaha before earning a promotion. He's made the best of it by going 3-0 for the Royals with a 1.48 ERA in four big-league starts.