SAN DIEGO -- How's this for a nice turnaround by the Royals in this lovely seaside city?First, they snapped a burdensome five-game losing streak. Then, with an 8-0 victory over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday, the Royals actually won a series at Petco Park. Quite a feat considering they'd lost all seven games ever played at San Diego before taking this series, two games to one.James Shields pitched seven shutout innings and Eric Hosmer drove in four runs in with three singles on a sunny, 64-degree afternoon with 18,228 fans in the house. 
Maybe the Royals were just getting tired of these last-minute, extra-inning conclusions to these games at San Diego. They lost the opener in 12 innings, then won the second game in 11.At any rate, the Royals got their runs gushing in the first inning in this series finale. They hadn't scored three runs in the first inning since their home opener on April 4 against the White Sox. They won that day, 7-5.Nori Aoki got things going against right-hander Andrew Cashner with a single and Alcides Escobar was safe when shortstop Everth Cabrera booted his roller. Then they pulled off a double steal, putting themselves in position to score when Hosmer ripped a single up the middle.After an out, Cabrera made another error, this time on Alex Gordon's bouncer. Danny Valencia followed with a broken-bat single into left field and Hosmer scored.The Royals went on to load the bases when Jarrod Dyson walked with two outs and Shields, for a pitcher not accustomed to batting, gave Cashner quite a battle. He kept fouling off pitches and finally, on a full count and the ninth pitch, grounded out to end the inning.The Royals added a fourth run in the third on Gordon's leadoff double into the right-field corner, a groundout and Mike Moustakas' sacrifice fly. Cashner was lifted after four innings; two of the four runs against him were unearned.Reliever Donn Roach gave up one run in the sixth as Aoki singled and scored on Hosmer's single, giving him a third RBI. Salvador Perez followed with a single, but Hosmer was caught rounding second base and tagged for the third out.The Royals added two runs in the eighth against Hector Ambriz, scoring on a passed ball and Hosmer's third hit.Shields kept fending off threats. Three singles in the second yielded nothing as the inning ended when Hosmer's throw caught Cameron Maybin oversliding at second. There were two on in the fifth, but center fielder Dyson rushed in to grab Cabrera's fast-sinking liner. In the sixth, a two-on situation was defused as pinch-hitter Yasmani Grandal grounded into a double play nicely engineered by shortstop Escobar.Aaron Crow and Louis Coleman completed the shutout with one scoreless inning each.Dick Kaegel / MLB.com
Maybe the Royals were just getting tired of these last-minute, extra-inning conclusions to these games at San Diego. They lost the opener in 12 innings, then won the second game in 11.At any rate, the Royals got their runs gushing in the first inning in this series finale. They hadn't scored three runs in the first inning since their home opener on April 4 against the White Sox. They won that day, 7-5.Nori Aoki got things going against right-hander Andrew Cashner with a single and Alcides Escobar was safe when shortstop Everth Cabrera booted his roller. Then they pulled off a double steal, putting themselves in position to score when Hosmer ripped a single up the middle.After an out, Cabrera made another error, this time on Alex Gordon's bouncer. Danny Valencia followed with a broken-bat single into left field and Hosmer scored.The Royals went on to load the bases when Jarrod Dyson walked with two outs and Shields, for a pitcher not accustomed to batting, gave Cashner quite a battle. He kept fouling off pitches and finally, on a full count and the ninth pitch, grounded out to end the inning.The Royals added a fourth run in the third on Gordon's leadoff double into the right-field corner, a groundout and Mike Moustakas' sacrifice fly. Cashner was lifted after four innings; two of the four runs against him were unearned.Reliever Donn Roach gave up one run in the sixth as Aoki singled and scored on Hosmer's single, giving him a third RBI. Salvador Perez followed with a single, but Hosmer was caught rounding second base and tagged for the third out.The Royals added two runs in the eighth against Hector Ambriz, scoring on a passed ball and Hosmer's third hit.Shields kept fending off threats. Three singles in the second yielded nothing as the inning ended when Hosmer's throw caught Cameron Maybin oversliding at second. There were two on in the fifth, but center fielder Dyson rushed in to grab Cabrera's fast-sinking liner. In the sixth, a two-on situation was defused as pinch-hitter Yasmani Grandal grounded into a double play nicely engineered by shortstop Escobar.Aaron Crow and Louis Coleman completed the shutout with one scoreless inning each.Dick Kaegel / MLB.com
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