Buck has taken giant steps early in the season to reclaim the role. He hit two home runs, including an eighth-inning grand slam, and drove in five runs in the Royals' 9-3 victory Tuesday night over the Indians.

"I haven't done the lineup yet (for Wednesday), but it's tough to keep Johnny's bat out of there," Hillman said. "I won't deny that. We have a little bit of luxury with carrying three catchers, so I'm not really scared to DH whoever is the backup catcher on that given day. There's a good chance that bat will be back in there somehow."

Buck is hitting .500 (6-for-12) in three games and leads the team with three home runs and eight RBIs.

"When all the (exciting) games were going on, I was on the bench," Buck said. "I didn't get stung by the adrenalin that opening day holds. I think people forget that's our dream is to play on opening day. It's hard to harness adrenalin and stick to that approach when you hear the fans, packed house."

So does Buck expect to get more playing time with the hot bat?

"It's really irrelevant to me," Buck said. "What I'm concentrating on is helping the team every day to get to our ultimate goal, playing in the playoffs."

ROYALS 9, INDIANS 3: Kyle Davies gave up three runs on seven hits, walking one and striking out five in 5 2/3 innings to pick up his first victory. John Buck homered to lead off the fifth, putting the Royals ahead to stay, and hit a grand slam in a five-run eighth to put the game away. Mike Aviles and David DeJesus each collected their first RBI of the season.