Venezuelan righty Jeanmar Gomez makes his second appearance and first start of 2012 tonight when the Cleveland Indians visit Kauffman Stadium for the second of three weekend games with the Kansas City Royals.
The Indians won game one of the series on Friday when Shin-Soo Choo and Jason Kipnis knocked in two runs apiece en route to an 8-3 decision.
Asdrubal Cabrera added a home run, while Derek Lowe (2-0) scattered 11 hits and three runs in 6 2/3 innings to earn the win.
Luke Hochevar (1-1) got the start for Kansas City and gave up seven runs on nine hits and a walk through four innings, but took a Carlos Santana line drive off his left leg during the final out of the fourth and did not return for the fifth.
Gomez emerged from spring training as the Indians' fifth starter, but his initial turn in the rotation was skipped when Tuesday's game with the Chicago White Sox was postponed by rain.
He pitched two innings of relief on Wednesday in Cleveland's 10-6 loss, allowing no baserunners and striking out three batters.
Now 24, he debuted with the Indians in 2010 and was 4-5 in 11 starts, then made 11 more starts last season, winning five of eight decisions while posting a 4.47 earned run average across 58 1/3 innings.
Gomez has split four decisions in five career starts against Kansas City with a 3.76 ERA in 26 1/3 innings.
He's opposed by Royals lefty Jonathan Sanchez, who starts for the second time in the American League since a three-player offseason deal that saw outfielder Melky Cabrera head to San Francisco.
Sanchez appeared in 174 games and made 118 starts with the Giants between 2006 and 2011, winning a career-high 13 games in 2010 as part of the franchise's first World Series title since 1954.
He was just 4-7 in 19 starts last season and saw his ERA swell from 3.07 to 4.26.
He tossed five innings of two-run ball in a 7-3 defeat of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on April 8 and is 1-0 in two career starts against the Indians.
The Indians won 12 of 18 versus the Royals last season, taking six of nine at home.
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