When Kyle Davies is on the mound you really aren't sure what to expect. At times it isn't pretty, however it seems you never can predict the outcome. Davies worked his way through 6.1 innings and only gave up three runs on seven hits, but it was all for not, as Baltimore won the second game of the series this evening defeating the Royals 3-2.
Davies found some trouble in the first, giving up two hits and a walk as the Orioles scored a run to take a quick 1-0 lead. Baltimore added a run in the second, on a Nick Markakis single as it was 2-0 going into the bottom half of the inning where Kansas City answered via a Jeff Francoeur home run against Baltimore starter Jake Arrieta. It was the second night in a row Francoeur homered and he now sits with a team-leading eight so far.
Arrieta was solid going seven innings allowing just one run on three hits. On the evening Kansas City amassed just five hits, tying their season low thus far. Mike Aviles was the only Royals player to pick up two hits, as he went 2-for-4 at the plate while also striking out twice.
After Baltimore added a run to make it 3-1 in the seventh inning, Kansas City made things interesting in the eighth as thoughts of another rally came to mind, however a somewhat controversial ruling seemed to take some steam out of the rally.
With one out in the eighth, Alcides Escobar singled against reliever Jim Johnson as Aviles came to the plate. Aviles hit a ball that rolled all the way to the left-field wall where it became stuck under the padding at the wall. Escobar and Aviles both kept running and scored, but the ball was called a ground-round double forcing both players back to third and second respectively. It seemed clear that the ball was under the padding, but obviously not stuck and with speed on the bases Aviles seemed atleast destined for a triple. What seemed to bother Kansas City fans the most was seeing Orioles centerfielder Adam Jones easily remove the ball from under the padding with just two fingers after the ruling had been made. Melky Cabrera then grounded out scoring Escobar and closing the gap, before Alex Gordon flew out to end the inning.
Francouer walked in the ninth and advanced to second when Wilson Betemit flew out, however Kila Ka`aihue flew out to the end the game as Baltimore improved to 14-15, while the Royals fall to 16-14 and end a four game winning streak. Arrieta picked up the win to move to 4-1, while Kevin Gregg notched his sixth save. For Kansas City, Davies took the loss and his record now sits at 1-4 with a 7.32 ERA.
Kansas City currently sits five games back of Cleveland who again is in Oakland this evening. The rubber match of the series will take place tomorrow afternoon at 1:10 as Bruce Chen (3-1 4.04 ERA) takes the ball for Kansas City against Chris Tillman (1-2 5.25 ERA). Looking ahead to the weekend, Kansas City will entertain former Royal David DeJesus and the Oakland Athletics.