KC Royals Win 6-0 as Edinson Volquez Shuts Down Yankees

If the KC Royals were looking for a spark from their starting rotation, they certainly received it today from Edinson Volquez. Volquez shut down the Yankees offense, and the Royals offense continued to show dramatic improvement from last year in the 6-0 victory.

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Salvador Perez got the scoring started for the Royals in the bottom of the second. With one out, Perez took Chris Capuano‘s 3-2 pitch to left for a solo home run, giving the Royals a 1-0 lead. As it turns out, that would be all the offense that Volquez would need.

After setting down the first eleven batters he faced, Volquez found himself in a bit of trouble with two outs in the fourth. Alex Rodriguez doubled and Mark Teixiera was hit by a pitch (expect a suspension*) before striking out Brian McCann to end the threat.

The Royals essentially put the game away in the bottom of the inning. Lorenzo Cain and Eric Hosmer drew consecutive walks to lead off the inning, preceding an RBI base hit from Kendrys Morales. Perez singled to plate Hosmer, and Omar Infante followed with an RBI double to give the KC Royals a 4-0 lead. Esmil Rodgers did an excellent job of keeping the Royals from further expanding the lead, getting two groundouts and a strikeout to strand runners at second and third.

Kansas City tacked on two more runs in the sixth. Infante reached on an error, and Paulo Orlando drove him in with a double to left center. Orlando came home on a sacrifice fly to give the Royals a 6-0 lead, and subsequent victory.

Volquez was excellent in his start, allowing only three hits and a hit batter in seven innings, striking out five. It was certainly the type of outing the Royals needed, and with the off day tomorrow, the bullpen will have plenty of rest when they face Cincinnati.

Perez was 2-4 with a home run and two RBI in the victory.

*suspension not actually expected, but it’s the Royals, so who knows?

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