Harvey Is Man of the Hour for Royals

Rookie Ken Harvey is quickly gaining a reputation as a clutch hitter.

Harvey hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the eighth inning and the Kansas City Royals beat the Baltimore Orioles, 8-4, Saturday night.

The Royals ended a four-game losing streak. In all, they had lost 10 of 14.

Harvey connected off reliever Buddy Groom (1-2) for his fifth home run. Harvey has seven game-tying or go-ahead hits in the last 18 games.

“I take the same approach late in the game as I do early in the game,” Harvey said. “I stay positive and have confidence in myself. I guess things haven’t been going my way early in games.

“You have the feeling you want to come through in that situation. The crowd is into it. The adrenaline is flowing. I like my attitude in the box, but the reality is you want to calm yourself down. I was just ecstatic as anybody would be in that situation after the ball went out.”

Harvey is batting only .243 but comes through with key hits when his team needs them.

“Harvey is a RBI man,” Royal Manager Tony Pena said. “Every time he sees runners in scoring position, he comes through.”

Royal second baseman Carlos Febles was hit in the right hand by a pitch from Jason Johnson while trying to bunt in the fifth inning and was taken to a hospital for X-rays.