The Royals are now 1 game below .500. Two good weeks away!
Royals' pitchers worked around a lot of baserunners Sunday afternoon, but the team escaped Kauffman Stadium with a 2-1 victory over the Yankees.
James Shields allowed plenty of men to reach base, but only gave up one run over six innings of work. Shields had two runners reach base against him in the first inning, but none scored. Alcides Escobar helped out Shields in the the first inning, making a great diving stop and throw from his knees, robbing Derek Jeter of a hit.
The Yankees loaded the bases against Shields with nobody out in the second inning, but two clutch strikeouts and a forceout at home allowed the starter to escape unscathed. New York had runners in scoring position with one out in the third and fourth inning, but failed to drive them home as well.
Shields finally allowed a run in the sixth inning. Yangervis Solarte cracked a one-out double and advanced to third on a Salvador Perez passed ball, later scoring on an Ichiro Suzuki groundout. Shields finished the day allowing six hits and two walks, but recorded eight strikeouts, helping him strand so many Yankees.
Royals hitters didn't look much better against Hiroki Kuroda, but tagged the starter with two runs in the third inning. Perez started the rally with a two-out single, then Lorenzo Cain plated Perez with a double. Mike Moustakas followed with a RBI-single, giving Kansas City all the offense it needed.
New York didn't just waste opportunities against Shields; Aaron Crow surrendered a one-out triple to Brett Gardner in the seventh, but stranded Gardner at third base. Greg Holland gave up a leadoff single to Suzuki in the ninth inning, then threw a wild pitch, advancing Suzuki to second base. The Yankees, fortunately, did not drive Suzuki in either, stranding their ninth and final runner of the day.
Wade Davis struck out two New York hitters, giving him a 42% K% on the season. That's just filthy.
The Royals, who have won 5 out of their past 7 games, are now 30-31 on the season. The team will wrap up their series against the New York Yankees Monday night, with Jason Vargas facing off against Vidal Nuno.