On a cold, wet, Wednesday night in Kansas City, the leaders in the American League Central stretched their early season divisional lead just a little bit. Behind Wade Davis, Billy Butler, and Jeff Francoeur, the Kansas City Royals (6-3) shutout the Minnesota Twin (4-5) three-to-zip.
Apr 5, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Wade Davis (22) pitches during the first inning game against the Philadelphia Phillies on opening day at Citizens bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
On the Mound
Wade Davis earned his first victory as a Royal Wednesday, toughing out 5 innings of 4-hit ball. He K’d 6 but also allowed 3 walks on the night. Bruce Chen was terrific in relief, allowing only 2 base runners in three innings. Kelvin Herrera struck out the side in the 9th for the save.
At The Plate
Salvador Perez produced three base knocks for the offense but the Royals used the long ball to win on Wednesday. Billy Butler and Jeff Francoeur each went deep with solo shots. Alcides Escobar drove in the third run.
Player of the Game
Initially, I was going to give Perez the POG for this game but he came to bat in the 7th with the bases loaded and grounded weakly to short. His other 3 hits were with the bases empty. Wade Davis becomes the 5th and final starting pitcher to be named POG. His game was really good, except for those 3 walks.
The Twins
The Twins had 10 base runners on the night but could not push a run across the plate. They came to town in first place in the division but leave in 4th place. After watching this team for three games, I really can’t see how they do not finish in the basement of the Central.
Up Next
The Royals are off Thursday (no recap on Friday) but the dangerous Toronto Blue Jays come to town on Friday. Luis Mendoza (0-0) will face J.A. Happ (1-0) at 7:10.
AL Central Notes
Detroit Tigers (4-4): The bullpen let the Tigers down (again) when Brayan Villarreal walked three in 7th, including one with the bases loaded, against Toronto without recording an out. All three ended up scoring.Austin Jackson and Miguel Cabrera each had 2 hits.
Chicago White Sox (4-4): Gavin Floyd was the second straight Sox starter not be sharp in his outing against the Nationals. Floyd went 5.1 innings, giving up 5 runs on 9 hits and 3 walks to take the loss. Alex Rios stayed hot with 2 hits.
Cleveland Indians (3-5): The Indians were rained out on Thursday.
