News
Morales no longer unsung hero
Los Angeles (80-54) at Kansas City (51-84), 11:10 a.m. PT
By Rustin Dodd / MLB.com
09/05/09 11:41 PM ET
KANSAS CITY -- There are people throughout baseball who are finally beginning to notice Kendry Morales.Brayan Pena finds this funny.
Pena, the Kansas City Royals' backup catcher, doesn't find this funny because Morales is hitting .311 with 30 homers and was named the American League Player of the Month in August.
Well, that is, of course, part of it.
No, Pena finds it funny because he always knew that Morales would become someone special with the bat.
Pena's known this since he and Morales were young friends growing up together in Cuba.
"Kendry has always been a great hitter," Pena said.
The story of Pena and Morales sounds like a true baseball fairytale -- a fairytale that will continue on Sunday when the Angels play the Royals at Kauffman Stadium in the third game of a four-game series.
Morales and Pena grew up together in Cuba. They shared bonds beyond baseball, too. Pena's mother was Morales' godmother. Except when you're young, you don't pay much attention to that stuff, Pena said. So he simply knew Morales as his young friend who shared extraordinary skills for the same sport.
"I've known Kendry ever since we were 10 years old," Pena said.
Together they dreamed of playing Major League baseball.
The dream continued in Havana, Cuba, where Morales and Pena played together. It continued on the Cuban national team, where both showcased their talents at a young age.
"He's one of my best friends," Pena said.
It's been years since Morales and Pena were young kids in Cuba, but both found separate paths to the Majors, defecting from Cuba, signing professional contracts and climbing the ladder to the Major Leagues.
And given the opportunity in Los Angeles, Pena isn't surprised that Morales has blossomed into one of the game's top young hitters.
Morales is second in the AL in slugging percentage, tied for sixth in homers and sixth in RBIs. He was even better in August, with 10 homers, 31 RBIs, a Major League-leading .734 slugging percentage and a .409 on-base percentage.
The consistent production has caused Angels manager Mike Scioscia to vocally support Morales' candidacy for the AL MVP Award.
"What Kendry has done has been special in a couple areas," Scioscia said. "His first go-round playing every day in the Major Leagues -- really, the numbers he's put up to this point have been eye-opening when you compare them to some of the most established sluggers in baseball."
Morales and Pena still talk about their journey from young kids in Cuba to Major League ballplayers. They often spend time together in the offseason in Miami.
"You always think about it," Pena said. "[Thursday] we went out and we had dinner and we had that conversation. Who would of thought that 10 years from that moment that we met, we would be playing here in the big leagues against each other. And he's having a great year. It's unbelievable. It's a great experience for him."
Pitching matchupLAA: LHP Joe Saunders (11-7, 5.02 ERA)
Saunders showed he's fully recovered from left shoulder problems with seven shutout innings on Monday night in Seattle, holding the Mariners to three hits and three walks while striking out four batters. He retired 10 in a row in one stretch with his fastball back in the 91-93 mph range after shoulder tightness had put him on the disabled list for 17 games. Saunders shut out the Royals on May 9 on five hits but gave up six earned runs in 5 2/3 innings against them in a no-decision on July 22. He's 2-0 with a 2.91 ERA in three career starts against Kansas City and 1-0 with a 4.97 ERA in two Kauffman Stadium outings. KC: RHP Luke Hochevar (6-8, 5.74 ERA)
Once on a roll of four consecutive winning decisions, Hochevar has since gone seven starts without a victory. In that span, he's 0-5 with a 7.30 ERA. Last Monday night at Oakland, he got off to a fine start but imploded in the third inning as the A's scored five times. Hochever lasted until the sixth frame when he put the go-ahead runs on base and took the loss, running up 108 pitches in the outing. This is the first start of his career against the Angels. Tidbits
Jered Weaver has thrown 232 pitches in his past two games -- 119 against the A's on Aug. 29 and 113 against the Royals on Friday. Scioscia said Weaver hasn't shown any signs of fatigue, however, and he isn't worried that Weaver -- who has thrown 180 1/3 innings this season -- has already set a career high for innings pitched. "If we were going to see a drop-off, we would have seen it by now," Scioscia said. ... The Angels got a visit from injured reliever Scot Shields on Friday. Shields, who had surgery on his left knee in June and is out for the season, was back in the clubhouse on Saturday leading a pregame college football watch party. ... After Friday's win, the Angels improved to 20-5 in their past 25 games at Kauffman Stadium. Tickets
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• KLAA 830, KWKW 1330 (Español) Up next
• Monday: Angels (Ervin Santana, 7-7, 5.68) at Royals (Kyle Davies, 6-9, 5.71), 11:10 a.m. PT
• Tuesday: Angels (Scott Kazmir, 8-8, 5.68) vs. Mariners (Felix Hernandez, 14-5, 2.65), 7:05 p.m. PT
• Wednesday: Angels (Jered Weaver, 14-5, 3.79) vs. Mariners (Ian Snell, 6-9, 5.21), 7:05 p.m. PT
Rustin Dodd is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
