Kansas City Royals Bullpen, Chris Young Stifle Twins 2-0
By David Hill
Chris Young had struggled in his previous two outings, and was looking to right the ship for the Kansas City Royals. Facing the Minnesota Twins with first place on the line, he did just that, as Young and the Royals bullpen shut down the Twins offense in the 2-0 victory.
The Royals offense struck quickly against Twins starter Trevor May. Alcides Escobar doubled to lead off the game, and scored on Mike Moustakas‘ base hit to left center. Moustakas moved up to second on a wild pitch, and the Royals appeared ready to add another run, but he was picked off second on a ground ball back to the mound as May escaped further damage.
As it turned out, that was all that Young would need. He carved through the Twins offense, facing the minimum through five innings. He allowed a walk in the third to Eduardo Escobar, who was erased trying to steal second.
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Kansas City had a chance to tack on another run in the fourth. Alex Gordon walked and Alex Rios singled to put runners on first and second to lead off the inning. After a strikeout for the first out, Gordon was picked off stealing third. This proved especially painful after Omar Infante reached on an infield single.
In the end, it did not matter. Young had held the Twins without a hit through six innings, and it seemed as though history may be made. Chris Heston was also working on a no-hitter (he completed his), making this the rare night where two no-hitters could occur at the same time. Alas, that was not to be as Trevor Plouffe tripled on a 2-0 pitch with one out in the seventh to end the bid.
Young exited the game at that point, allowing just that one hit and three walks through 6.1 innings. The bullpen took over from there, as Franklin Morales and Kelvin Herrera stranded Plouffe on third to preserve the shutout.
The Royals added an insurance run in the top of the ninth. Salvador Perez greeted Blaine Boyer by sending his 2-1 pitch into the seats in left, providing the final margin in the Royals 2-0 victory. Young was stellar in earning the win, rebounding from his rough outings in a truly spectacular fashion.
Perez was 2-4 with the home run and two strikeouts in the victory.